Moray GP surgery campaigners ‘disgusted’ by Councillor Tracy Colyer comments want ‘fresh start’
Village surgery campaigners have revealed they were “just disgusted” after a councillor said they should “get a life” and compared losing two branch surgeries to not having milk delivered.
Councillor Tracy Colyer’s remarks were broadcast live on the Moray Council website, after the livestream of last Thursday’s Moray Integration Joint Board (MIJB) meeting was accidentally restarted.
Believing she was speaking privately to a committee clerk, the Keith and Cullen councillor discussed the Save Our Surgeries (SOS) campaign and colleagues Councillor Neil McLennan and Councillor Sandy Keith.
After we queried her comments, MIJB chair Cllr Colyer apologised “unreservedly” and resigned from both the MIJB and the board of NHS Grampian.
The Conservative councillor also referred herself to the Standards Commission for investigation, and stepped down from the administration group pending the outcome.
SOS was established in 2022 to oppose the closure of local GP surgery branches in Burghead and Hopeman.
However, after both branches closed in 2023 and patients transferred to Lossiemouth, they have been pushing for the return of primary care to the villages - even if it is a nurse-led service.
Group members argued that Cllr Colyer’s comments reflected wider attitudes towards the group throughout health authorities.
“I just thought that was quite devastating for the folk that were mentioned,” Hopeman woman and SOS member Rhona Grant said.
“To rip somebody's character like that - and rip our characters as well - it was just disgusting.”
Fellow campaigner Liz Mcknockiter, from Burghead, said Cllr Colyer’s comments showed a “total disregard” for the group’s concerns.
She added that Thursday’s MIJB meeting, which considered a Scottish Government-ordered report into the consultation process around the branch closures, also featured “veiled attacks” on group members.
"But now is the time to move forward" - Liz Mcknockiter
“Well, to be quite honest, I was shocked, but not surprised, given the attitude of people within the council and the MIJB,” Ms Mcknockiter said.
“There is a degree of arrogance which I find particularly nauseating.
“But now is the time to move forward.”
However, a spokesperson for the Health and Social Care Moray said: “We have maintained open communication and positive engagement with the SOS Group since it was formed, attending all their meetings when invited and providing requested information.
“An offer was made to the SOS group prior to last week’s meeting of the Moray Integration Joint Board, to meet with Sean Coady, deputy Chief Officer, and Iain MacDonald, Locality Manager, to discuss the outcome of the Scottish Government’s independent report on the branch surgeries closures.
“One of the recommendations made in the report was for continued community engagement on innovative proposals for the use of the Burghead premises.
“We are open to collaborating with local groups interested in repurposing the building, such as for a wellbeing hub, and would be keen to explore options for using the community space as a venue for delivery of activity supporting local residents to improve their health and wellbeing.
“Moray Coast Medical Practice has no plans, however, to restart general medical services from the premises.
“We continue to work collaboratively with all interested community members through ongoing locality planning discussions on how best to deliver health and social care services within the coastal village area and the broader Lossiemouth locality.
“Members of the SOS Group have previously worked alongside us on the locality planning group and we would welcome their further involvement.”
Group member Pedro Abreu, who moved to Hopeman in January, was listening to the IJB while working from home.
Having left the webcast open after it ended, a change of tone prompted him to record the livestream and share it with the group.
Cllr Colyer said she had spoken to fellow MIJB members before the meeting, to confirm what each of them would say about the surgery closures report.
During the meeting, attendees unanimously praised the work of Moray Health and Social Care staff and said the Scottish Government’s report showed that the consultation had been properly conducted.
Three SOS members resigned from the Locality Planning Partnership Group, a body to promote cooperation between health bosses and stakeholders, in protest over the meeting report which they believed misrepresented the report’s findings.
"I had to be very well behaved" - Councillor Tracy Colyer
Cllr Colyer said that, before the MIJB meeting, she: "Had to have half an hour with Judith [Proctor, interim chief officer at Health and Social Care Moray] and Sean [Coady, head of service]. I had to be very well behaved.”
While preparing for the meeting, she added, they went through: "Different scenarios dependent on who said what."
Members of SOS said the prior meetings cast doubt over the integrity of discussions during MIJB meetings.
However, it is understood that the chair and vice-chair have a pre-meeting ahead of each meeting, during which they review the agenda and reports.
Chairman Dennis Slater, a former Moray councillor, said: “[The IJB were] speaking behind closed doors before a meeting and deciding what they're going to do, and purposely purposely keeping out the SOS group from any discussion.”
“They want a surgery and they ain’t getting one” - Cllr Colyer
While holding a piece of paper up to her webcam, Cllr Colyer also claimed that SOS campaigners had only attended four meetings, out of seventeen over 18 months.
She added: “They don’t hear what they want want so they don’t come.
“They want a surgery and they ain’t getting one.”
However, group members strongly rejected her claims and said they had no idea which 17 meetings Cllr Colyer was referring to.
SOS had repeatedly requested meetings with the Moray Coast Medical Practice, MIJB, Health and Social Care Moray (HSCM) and NHS Grampian, said member Syanness Tunggall.
“We have not, to our knowledge, rejected a single opportunity to explore potential options” - Syanness Tunggal
“Sadly, most of our requests were dismissed for one reason or the other,” she added.
Ms Tunggall also argued group members had been excluded from meetings with Glasgow School of Art about digital health and innovation, which they were promised a role in.
She said: “We have not, to our knowledge, rejected a single opportunity to explore potential options which may solve issues facing our communities, let alone such opportunities with Moray and Grampian Health authorities.
“If all these efforts are considered not enough by MIJB to show our seriousness in engaging and finding solution, then we are truly at lost.”
Also discussed by Cllr Colyer, was an interview attended by Ms Tunggall, after she applied for a volunteer role on the MIJB.
"That is the calibre of the people we are trying to work with” - Cllr Colyer
The councillor said Ms Tunggal had "tried to record me and Sean [Coady]".
She accused the woman of "asking leading questions" while "fumbling underneath the desk"
The councillor said she then asked: "What are you doing with your phone?"
She added: "That is the calibre of the people we are trying to work with."
Ms Tunggal, who has a Masters in public health, has previously worked for the Swiss Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières Belgium.
“I fully acknowledge my actions, but she didn’t tell the full story of what happened” - Ms Tunggal
The campaigner accepted she should have asked explicitly to record the meeting, but said she had felt "provoked" into acting after the first question asked to her was about a statement made to the media.
“I fully acknowledge my actions, but she didn’t tell the full story of what happened,” Ms Tunggal said.
“It will only be fair that the whole interview is looked at, and what provoked my action.
“Maybe they should carry out an investigation into their recruitment so such things don’t happen.”
However, despite the difficult situation, and the hurt caused by Cllr Colyer’s comments, SOS are looking for a “fresh start” with health bosses.
“It is time for the NHS to be accountable to the people it serves” - Ms Mcknockiter
“I feel it's so important that we go forward we make a fresh start,” Ms Mcknockiter said.
“But, above all, being open and honest and respectful.
“I don't think they realised that we would still be here and still fighting for what we want. We're not going to give up.
“It is time for the NHS to be accountable to the people it serves.”
The group believe that bringing primary care services back to Hopeman and Burghead would allow healthcare to be delivered more quickly, and prevent health problems from worsening.
As a result, campaigners believe that even a nurse-led service in the villages would relieve pressure on budgets, Accident and Emergency Departments, ambulances, the remaining GP surgery in Lossiemouth and larger hospitals.
Despite a new M.Connect bus service being launched to help patients get to Lossiemouth for appointments, Mr Abreu believes the problem is wider than just travel.
After the closures some patients were forced to take two busses to appointments, facing long journey times.
But he argued that an ongoing SOS survey is finding that, while travel issues were significant, patients were struggling to even book an appointment at Lossiemouth.
Members argued that MIJB, HSCM and NHS Grampian have refused to consider their request for a nurse-led service and to explain the reasons behind decisions.
“It's not just our needs, it's the community’s needs” - Dennis Slater
“We said to them that they are refusing to come and look at the options rationally,” Ms Tunggal said.
“If they are not convinced of what we're saying, they can run a six-month nurse-led pilot project. We can help gather the statistics.
“Then, at the end of the six months or a year or whatever, we can all look at the numbers and say: ‘If it works, you need to accept it. If it doesn't work, we need to accept it.’”
Mr Slater added: “We're fighting for people. It's not just our needs, it's the community’s needs.”
