Plans to build a much-needed replacement health centre in Ellon have been delayed.
The complex is to be created as part of a masterplan alongside new houses at the old Ellon Academy site.
But the Scottish Government has advised NHS Boards across the country to halt projects which need Holyrood cash.
An update on the new health and care hub was given to members of the Formartine area committee yesterday.
Shona Campbell of the Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership told councillors NHS Grampian was due to apply for project funding through something called the “Scottish capital investment manual process”.
However, the board was told that a new funding process is currently being developed – and asked that the project be paused in the meantime.
With the scheme now in limbo, a working group will now be set up to look at the options available for increasing capacity in Ellon.
There are concerns the current practice is “full to the brim and not fit for purpose”.
Ms Campbell said: “We know we don’t have capacity there to be able to do everything that we want to do locally.
“That means the service to people in Ellon is not equitable to the service received in other areas.”
‘We need a plan B urgently’
NHS staff are currently looking at how the current Schoolhill facility is used to ensure the health board is making the most of the space there.
Ms Campbell revealed some services could ultimately be “better delivered somewhere else in the local community”.
However, she added: “Doing that isn’t making enough of a difference to enable us to deliver all of the services that we want to.
“We need a plan B urgently.”
Could Aberdeenshire Council help while Ellon health centre is delayed?
Ellon councillor Isobel Davidson said the delay was “very disappointing news” as local residents had faced a long wait for the new facility.
“We’ve been so optimistic it will happen and it just keeps getting a little bit further away, which is so sad,” she added.
Ms Davidson asked if the council could free up space in its buildings for additional services to be carried out.
She also asked how the surgery was performing as she had received some concerns from residents about its capacity and their struggle to get appointments.
Ms Campbell revealed results from recent GP reviews showed that Ellon was not too different from other practices across the country.
She said the surgery’s rating “wasn’t brilliant but quite consistent with other areas around Aberdeenshire and Scotland as a whole”.
Ellon health centre ‘needs addressing pronto’
Councillor Gillian Owen also voiced her disappointment, saying it was a “bitter blow” to residents.
She pleaded with the Scottish Government to press on with the new process as she said the town facility is “no longer fit for purpose, full to the brim, and needs addressing pronto”.
Where would the new Ellon health centre be located?
The new medical practice was included as part of a masterplan for the former Ellon Academy site.
The proposal was agreed back in 2020, three years after the old school was demolished.
Under the masterplan, the current GP surgery would be knocked down to make way for its replacement.
New housing is currently being constructed on the site.
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