NHS Fife and Fife Health and Social Care Partnership have appointed a new GP contractor to take over the running of three GP practices in Fife.
Dr Gilani and Partners will take over the running of Kinghorn Medical Practice, Valleyfield Practice and the Links Practice in Burntisland.
All three practices have been run by NHS Fife and the Fife Health and Social Care Partnership since the previous GP partners handed back the contracts for the delivery of general medical services.
Work has been ongoing for some time to identify interested parties to take over the running of the practices and return them to independent contractor status.
Earlier this year, a tender process was initiated through Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) and bids were received.
Following evaluation of those bids, which included a thorough and robust assessment of each submission in line with national procurement guidelines, Dr Gilani and Partners, which is part of Ayrshire Medical Group, were identified as the preferred bidder.
Dr Gilani and Partners currently operate a number of GP Practices across Scotland, serving approximately 24,000 patients. These practices operate as standalone sites, but can draw upon the full support of the group. A number of the group’s doctors have worked locally and visited the areas ahead of submitting their bid.
NHS Fife and the Fife Health and Social Care Partnership has written to patients at all three practices to inform them of appointment of the new GP contractors.
Director of the Fife Health and Social Care Partnership, Nicky Connor explained:
“Now the due diligence has been completed, we are delighted to be able to publicly confirm that Dr Gilani and partners will be taking over the running of Kinghorn, The Links and Valleyfield medical practices.
“We are looking forward to working closely with the group to develop a detailed plan for the transfer so we can make sure there is a seamless transition for patients in Kinghorn, Valleyfield and Burntisland.
“We expect to complete the transition later this year.
“The necessary steps are also being taken to ensure people who attend those practices have continued and uninterrupted access to local medical services, so they are able to see the right person, at the right time as these changes are carried out.”
A representative for Dr Gilani & Partners added:
“We are delighted to be taking over the running of Kinghorn, the Links and Valleyfield Practices.
“Our medical group has expanded over recent years and currently cares for more around 24,000 patients across Scotland. This enables us to pull on the collective resources we have across the group to provide the best possible local medical services for the communities we serve.
“We are also working very closely with NHS Fife and the Fife Health and Social Care Partnership to ensure minimal disruption for patients while the transition takes place.
“We are keen to engage with the local community and key stakeholders and hope to hold some public open days in early 2024 to introduce our team and also collate patient feedback to ensure we are delivering a high-quality healthcare provision for the communities we will be serving.
A dedicated section has been created on the NHS Fife website to provide updates on all GP practices currently run by NHS Fife and the Fife Health and Social Care Partnership. Visit: https://www.nhsfife.org/generalmedicalservices/
