Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
GP crisis in Dundee: six surgeries closed off to new patients
A Tele investigation has found six practices are operating closed lists, including Stobswell Medical Centre, which is closing permanently on March 16.
Park Avenue’s list is closed until March 16 while Maryfield, Whitfield and Nethergate medical centres are closed to new patients until March 30.
Terra Nova has closed its doors to new patients until May 25, probably due to demand from Stobswell patients.
Tory North East MSP Bill Bowman said the issue was “alarming”.
He added: “The reason for this is obvious. There are too few GPs to go around so many patients in an ageing Scottish society. Planning for this shortfall of staff should have started a decade ago when the SNP government first became aware of it.
“The health secretary will find this particularly embarrassing in her own area. She should know all about these closed lists.”
Research by the Tories has suggested that up to 3,000 GPs may have left Scotland in the last decade, while the Royal College of General Practitioners has predicted a shortfall of 856 GPs in Scotland by 2021.
Scottish Labour health spokesman Anas Sarwar MSP said the figures were “deeply concerning and simply unacceptable”.
He added: “GP services across the country have suffered as a result of SNP mismanagement — and it seems even health secretary Shona Robison’s backyard isn’t immune.”
At present, there are 23 GP vacancies in Tayside. There is also a wide disparity in the number of permanent doctors Dundee surgeries have.
The Mill Practice has 13 permanent GPs, one for every 700 patients, but Park Avenue has just two, or one for every 2,500 people.
To plug the gaps, surgeries make use of locum doctors, who can cost thousands of pounds a week.
The Scottish Government is hoping to close a deal with doctors on a new GP contract in the near future.
The deal aims to free up doctors’ time, better allocate cash with a new funding formula and make the profession more attractive to trainees.
A committee of GPs concluded negotiations in November, while a final poll of doctors is set to be reviewed by the British Medical Association tomorrow.
Dr Andrew Cowie, a local GP serving on the committee negotiating the contract, said there was “no doubt” Tayside GPs were under pressure.
“It is essential that action is taken to relieve the pressures faced by practices across Scotland,” he said.
A spokeswoman for Ms Robison said “record investment” was being made in primary care, including a £7.5 million stimulus package next year and a target of hiring 800 GPs in the next decade.
She added: “We know that some areas are facing significant challenges with GP recruitment and retention.
“The new GP contract will, if accepted, help cut doctors’ workload and make general practice an even more attractive career.” Our
DUNDEE is facing a GP crisis with patients waiting months to register with surgeries facing a shortage of permanent doctors.