Heather Grier said:
“I would like to thank all the members of the Cowal 24/7 Working Group for their hard work and commitment in examining and developing future plans for the delivery of out of hours GP services in Cowal.
“There are already a number of community representatives on the Working Group who are working closely with other stakeholders to keep the public informed of our plans so far. However we are always looking for more public representatives to become involved.
“At our latest meeting the Working Group agreed that work would start to put together a broad long list of service options and once this long list was completed we would build on our engagement with the public across Cowal so that we can explain the options in more detail.
“It is anticipated that this step up in our public and staff engagement will start in March with a series of roadshows across Cowal to outline the options and answer any questions raised by members of the public. In addition to the roadshows we will also be writing to all community councils in the area offering to come along and present our options to their members and we are also more than happy to meet with any other local community groups who express an interest.
“All the feedback from the public and other interested stakeholders will be used when we go through the options appraisal process and will help in determining which options will be short listed for detailed assessment by the Working Group. The short list of options will then be shared with the wider communities across Cowal and feedback on these options will be encouraged.
“We are still in the process of confirming dates for our roadshows and we will ensure that these are widely publicised in due course. Before this happens we will be providing information to the communities across Cowal so people are aware of what the review is about so that they can start to share their thoughts with us. In the meantime if anyone has any questions about the work so far or are interested in joining one of the working groups then please contact Caroline Champion, Public Involvement Manager, on 01546 605680, caroline.champion@nhs.net.”
Notes to Editors: It is important to highlight that the current provision of Primary Care Services from local GP Practices does not from part of this review.
Heather Grier’s background is primarily in accounting with HR management and she operates as a business consultant working mainly in the private sector. She is also a fellow of the Institute of Directors and a member of the Chartered Institute of Management.
Dr Brian McLachlan is a Helensburgh based GP and has experience of providing an out of hours GP service in the community as well as providing GP services for the Vale of Leven Hospital. He is also the Clinical Lead for the Helensburgh & Lomond locality.
