Friockheim Health Centre to be put up for sale two years after closure

The centre closed in 2022 and was delcared surplus to requirements by NHS Tayside’s board at its June meeting. (Google Maps)

Thousands of local patients were transferred to other local practices after a two-year search failed to find a replacement GP to secure Friockheim health centre's survival.

The building is now set to be put on sale two years after its closure.

The former health centre closed its doors for good at the end of May 2022.

Its closure came after the centre’s last GP terminated their contract to run the facility and a two-year quest to find replacement doctors was unsuccessful.

Now, NHS Tayside have confirmed the building will be put on the market after chiefs deemed it surpluses to requirements.

And it’s hoped the move will allow the health board to funnel the money that would’ve been spent on the building’s upkeep back into care services.

A spokesperson for NHS Tayside said: “Tayside NHS Board declared Friockheim Health Centre surplus to requirement at its meeting in June.

“The property will now be prepared for sale on the open market. The property previously accommodated a GP practice which closed in May 2022.

“NHS Tayside has an extensive property footprint with many old buildings that no longer provide a suitable environment in which to care for our patients.

“By reducing the property footprint in Tayside and the associated running and maintenance costs, we can release funds to be invested into frontline clinical and care services.”

Friockheim was a popular centre with a patient list of around 3500.

And just a few months after its closure, the findings of a national survey were released which saw Friockheim ranked the top GP surgery in Angus for patient satisfaction. Patients transferred to other surgeries in Arbroath and Forfar in the wake of the closure.

The news follows the announcement that Annat Bank Practice in Montrose will shut at the end of November (see page 18). The practice says it has been impacted by a national shortage of doctors. NHS Tayside is now working with Angus Health and Social Care Partnership to find patients an alternative practice.