Government must reverse cuts to GP services, says senior doctor

Cuts to GP surgeries in Scotland threaten to undermine practices, a senior doctor has warned, as more and more report being inundated with patients.

Some 81% of practices said the demand on them was too much, and 42% told the BMA Scotland survey that demand substantially exceeded their capacity.

The survey also found more than a third of practices had at least one GP vacancy.

Dr Andrew Buist, chairman of the BMA’s Scottish GP committee, called for more openness from Holyrood ministers about “what GPs can deliver right now” amid the shortage.

He also warned of catastrophic consequences if numbers and retention were not boosted and urged the Scottish Government to reverse its cuts.

“We hear lots of warm words about the importance of GPs and multi-disciplinary teams that support them – but having this vital money cut off suggests they are not being backed up at all by actions,” said Dr Buist.

“Indeed, it threatens to undermine practices, at the exact moment when we should be doing the opposite and shoring them up against what threatens to be a winter worse than any we have experienced. The funding should be restored urgently.”

The BMA said that cuts to funding supporting general practice had seen more than £70 million slashed from their budgets.

And the association’s survey, which saw more than four in 10 of Scotland’s GP surgeries respond, found that 34% of practices on the hunt for at least one GP which it said meant there could be as many as 312 vacancies north of the border.

The survey also revealed abuse of staff has got worse, with 65% of practices having told the association it had deteriorated since last year and only 2% having told them things had improved.

Dr Buist condemned the abuse as “simply unacceptable” and urged patients not to blame medical staff for the current situation.

He said: “Things are not going to get better until there are more GPs in practices and the Government must get on with its pledge to deliver that.

“With that in mind, we need more openness from Government about what GPs can deliver right now. While our current struggles are in part due to increased demand, it is also clearly because we don’t have enough GPs.”

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf’s political rivals have blamed him for difficulties in the sector, with MSPs in both Scottish Labour and the Conservatives demanding that he should be sacked.

Sandesh Gulhane, the Tory health spokesman, blamed the “SNP’s dire workforce planning which, even before the pandemic, left GPs and practices under incredible pressure”.

“Patients will be the ones who suffer as a result of the failures of Humza Yousaf who is completely out his depth as Health Secretary,” he said.

“His inaction is meaning patients are being told only to turn up to A&E departments only in life-threatening situations, which is just adding to the burden on GPs.”

And Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader, also criticised the health secretary.

“GPs are on the front line of this crisis but they have been failed time and time again – with Humza Yousaf cutting cash to them earlier this month in just the latest example of the SNP asking GPs to do more with less,” she said.

The Scottish Government said there was a “record number of GPs working in Scotland, with more per head than any other country in the UK”.

“To support GPs, we have recruited over 3,220 healthcare professionals into multi-disciplinary teams working alongside GPS.

“We are committed to investing £170 million a year to help grow these teams and to further increasing the number of GPs in Scotland,” the spokesman said.