One GP covered county overnight
Staff issues saw out-of-hour services down from three medics to solo GP
Just one GP was left to cover NHS Lanarkshire’s out-ofhours service for a full night on Saturday, July 6.
The health board usually has three GPS working in out-of-hours services but staffing pressures meant that just one had to take on the work load for the full county.
And overnight on Monday, July 15, the health board had to cope with two GPS.
As a result, patients from Kilsyth to Biggar have had to rely on a service based in Hamilton.
Central Scotland MSP and Labour’s shadow health minister Monica Lennon said it was “unacceptable” that patients were put in this position.
She said: “This is worrying as people right across Lanarkshire should be served by properly resourced out-of-hours GP services.
“It’s unacceptable there were occasions over the summer where only one or two GPS were available for the whole county.
“Scotland-wide, we face a shortage of over 850 GPS by 2021 and out-of-hours shortages like those currently being experienced in Lanarkshire is a direct result of this looming workforce crisis.
“GP services are the front-line of the NHS, and when people can’t access appointments it leads to more A&E attendances and more pressure on other parts of the health service.
“The SNP government need to reverse the trend in GP recruitment, and ensure that health and social care services are properly resourced.”
NHS Lanarkshire have said that they took the decision to base out-of-hours services in Hamilton on these nights for “patient safety” when they didn’t have the necessary staff available.
Marianne Hayward, head of health and social care at South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership, said: “There are currently challenges nationally and locally with the provision of GP staff to work in out-of-hours (OOH) services.
“In Lanarkshire we address these issues.
“However, on some occasions for patient safety our OOH service in Hamilton has provided a service for the whole of Lanarkshire.
“Overnight is normally the quietest period of the OOHS service and overnight on July 6, our normal GP cover was reduced from three to one GP, with two GPS on July 15 due to these challenges.
“I would like to stress that as well as GP cover, the OOHS Hub includes other specialist staff such as advanced nurse practitioners and nurse practitioners who, like GPS, are able to see, assess and treat patients as well as issue prescriptions.
“The hub also includes paediatric nurses, community psychiatric nurses and clinical support workers and the Hub had appropriate levels of all these staff at this time.
“NHS 24 triages calls and passes on any cases that require an OOH appointment (either at home or at centre) to the Hamilton hub.
“Patients can also visit NHS inform at www.nhsinform.scot and/or NHS 24 on 111 to ensure they are able to access the most appropriate level of care.” are working to
It’s unacceptable there were occasions over the summer where only one or two GPS were available for the whole county