GP surgery numbers drop to lowest level in 13 years

The number of GP surgeries in Tayside has fallen to its lowest level for 13 years.

A freedom of information request to NHS Tayside revealed the number of surgeries across the region has dropped by more than 10%.

In 2005, there were 73 GP surgeries across the health board area – now there are 65.

Dr Andrew Cowie, chairman of the Tayside local medical committee said: “The number of surgeries and number of GPs are slightly different things – practices across the UK tend to be getting bigger and so there tends to be fewer of them.

“Some of the outcomes for this are good.

“Single-handed practices can be isolating and there are clear efficiencies in management structure for larger surgeries, as the amount of paperwork has grown.

“Larger practices are more resilient – if you are one GP down out of three that is difficult to maintain over any length of time, whereas if there are six partners you can often hold things together longer.”

Dr Cowie added: “Ideally the number of GPs would be increasing, even as the number of surgeries falls.

“Unfortunately, this isn’t happening, and this is the real problem.

“We had six fewer GPs join practices in Tayside than leave them in 2015, and another four in 2016.

“This doesn’t even allow for the fact that those joining practices are often part-time, so the reduction in total hours is certainly greater than this.”

An NHS Tayside spokeswoman said: “No GP surgeries have closed – the number of GP surgeries can vary as a result of the dissolution and amalgamation of practices.”