NHS Ayrshire and Arran are to take over the running of the Three Towns Medical Practice following the surgery’s failure to find enough replacement GPs, which resulted in the closure of the practice’s Saltcoats branch.

But angry patients believe they have been ill-informed about the changes, with one claiming that he only realised when he went to the Saltcoats practice to find it closed.

The practice, which now only has a Stevenston branch remaining, has been unable on its own to secure replacements for the GPs who have retired or left.

Patients received a letter last month about the takeover, which mentioned that over the next few months, they might notice “small changes” when they visit the practice.

The Herald spoke to one of the patients from the Saltcoats practice and he was outraged at the lack of information provided.

He said: “It’s really bad. It used to be a really good practice. It started when I couldn’t get through on the phone so I went down to the practice and there was a sign on the door saying that it was closed some afternoons. The next time I went, there was a sign saying it was closed on certain days, then eventually the sign just said it was closed altogether and suggested that people contact the Stevenston practice. Then I got that letter.

“The problem is that there is no parking at the Stevenston practice and it’s inconvenient for people without transport to travel there. How are elderly people or those with medical problems supposed to get there? Both practices were busy so I don’t know how they’re going to cope merging the two together.”

Pamela Miliken, Head of Primary Care and Out of Hours Services at East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership, said: “NHS Ayrshire and Arran and our partners in the Health and Social Care Partnerships are committed to ensuring that people

have high quality access to local health services.

“The Three Towns Medical Practice in Stevenston has been experiencing recruitment difficulties for doctors following the resignations of GPs from the practice.

“To ensure that patients of the Three Towns Medical Practice continue to receive services, NHS Ayrshire and Arran took over the management of the practice from September 27 2016.

“We will work with the highly experienced clinical staff and other practice staff and will bring in additional GPs and other professionals to ensure patients’ needs are met. We have also added a pharmacist to the practice team and will continue to assess demand for the service and will add additional capacity with extra clinicians if the need arises.

“We would like to reassure the local community that we do not expect any major changes to the service they currently receive from the practice.

“We are currently assessing the situation with the temporary closure of the Saltcoats branch. All patients currently receive their care at the Stevenston site and will continue to do so until we review the situation.”