THE practice lists at all of the local GP surgeries will be closed for a year - it has been announced.

In letters written to patients from the Three Towns, West Kilbride and Kilwinning, they were told that a ‘formal closure’ of the practice lists would take place for a period of 12 months, meaning that patients who are already registered are asked to remain with their current GP and new patients to the are will be allocated a practice by the Health Board.

Newborn babies and adopted or foster children will be able to register at the same practice as their parents or carers .

This comes just weeks after all of the doctors at the West Kilbride Practice quit, leaving the town without any full-time GPs.

Eddie Fraser, Director of East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership, addressed the issue and said the following in a statement to the Herald: “NHS Ayrshire & Arran and our partners in the Health and Social Care Partnerships are committed to ensuring that people have access to high quality local health and care services.

“Some GP practices within the North Ayrshire area have experienced recruitment difficulties following the retirement and resignation of some GPs. To help reduce pressure on practices while they recruit GPs, we have agreed with the Local Medical Committee and with the practices themselves, that they maintain their current practice list.

“To allow this to happen, GP patients in the Three Towns area, West Kilbride and Kilwinning area are being asked to remain with the practice they are currently registered with. This allows practices to anticipate the capacity of their service. Any newborn babies, and adopted or fostered children will be able to register with their parent’s registered practice.

“Any patients moving into the Three Towns, West Kilbride and Kilwinning area will be allocated to a practice as will any patient currently residing in the area who is not currently registered with a practice.

“We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. However, this process will ensure our GP practices continue to provide a full and robust general practitioner service to their patients.

“We want the best for our patients. We are aware that recent studies have shown that having a continuity of patient care contributes greatly to both improved patients’ outcomes and to positive patient experiences. We therefore actively encourage patients to remain with their current practice for these reasons.”