REDUCED opening hours have been introduced at a Cemmaes Road surgery because of difficulty appointing new GPs - but assurances have been given that Machynlleth surgery will continue full-time.

Dyfi Valley Health, which is run by three local GPs, has said it will have to restrict opening hours at the Cemmaes Road surgery, but will introduce a new triage system that could reduce the number of patients who need to be seen by a GP.

They said opening hours for Machynlleth’s surgery will remain unaltered.

While the organisation says that there have been problems in recruiting new GPs, local councillor Michael Williams said that he hoped recruitment efforts would be successful soon.

Cllr Williams also welcomed the decision to protect opening hours at Machynlleth’s surgery.

In a statement, Dyfi Valley Health said, despite widely advertising two vacant GP positions, there had been no applications and that the “extreme circumstances” had led to the restriction of opening hours at Cemmaes Road, which will see the surgery closed all day on Wednesday and Friday, and also on Thursday afternoons, with the triage system being introduced on Monday, 13 August.

Cllr Williams said: “I do appreciate that Dyfi Valley Health, along with many other GP surgeries especially in rural areas, are short of GPs and are finding it difficult to recruit GPs.

“I do have sympathy with those patients that are attached to the Cemmaes Road practice which is run by Dyfi Valley Health and do urge that everything possible be done to improve services for them. At the same time I would not want to see a reduction in the Machynlleth service."

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