Primary care improvement plan approved

The Argyll and Bute Integration Joint Board approved the Health and Social Care Partnership’s (HSCP) Primary Care Improvement Plan on Wednesday August 1.

The plan is a key requirement of the new General Medical Services contract recently agreed by GPs and the Scottish Government.

Commenting on the approval of the plan, Stephen Whiston, head of Strategic Planning and Performance for the HSCP, said: ‘Our GPs provide a high quality primary care service for communities across Argyll and Bute and in many cases are the first health professional the public sees if they are using our health and social care services.

‘The new contract will allow GPs and their practice teams to spend more time with patients who have complex health conditions. This will require some services currently provided by GPs and their teams to be provided by other clinicians employed by the HSCP. In Argyll and Bute we have worked closely with local GP Clinical Leads and representatives from the NHS Highland GP Sub Committee to develop our plan. This plan details the scale of service change required, how we intend to provide services, improve recruitment and retention of GPs and other clinicians and use technology to deliver these new services across Argyll and Bute.

‘This plan was presented to the Integration Joint Board on August 1 when it was approved for implementation over the next three years.

‘The next stage of the process is to consult with the public, staff and stakeholders on the service changes planned and identify/clarify how they will be delivered.’