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A Kirkcaldy councillor has raised concerns over an unexpected local GP surgery closure which caught patients unaware.

The closure of the facility in Nicol Street was not on the agenda of Kirkcaldy area committee, but was raised by Councillor Alistair Cameron , Kirkcaldy Central, (Labour) during an update on health and social care locality planning.

News the surgery was set to shut was revealed on Monday in a planning application from NHS Fife which sought council permission to add four additional consultation rooms to Path House Medical Practice to cope with more than 6000 additional patients this summer.

The news appeared to catch Nicol Street patients by surprise with many saying they were unaware of any closure plans.

The long-standing surgery in Nicol Street is set to close according to as NHS Fife planning application

“I am quite concerned about this particular issue,” he said. "Path House will go from approximately 11,000 patients to 17,000 people using this practice with one pharmacy next door which is already extremely busy. This is going to put even more pressure on what we already have at the moment. The patients at Nicol Street didn’t even know the practice was closing judging by Facebook comments last night.”

Lynn Barker, associate director of nursing for the Fife Health and Social Care Partnership replied: “It’s an issue we are aware of and we can absolutely appreciate the concerns and reflections of what has been said. It is a live issue. The partnership is literally dealing with it as we speak.”

According to the planning application, Nicol Street surgery will close on July 28, and the transfer of patients will increase Path House numbers to over 17.000

Kirkcaldy GP surgery closure: concerns over impact as 6000 patients face move