The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Recruitment:
Predicted 740 GPs needed by 2020
mand for places can sometimes be greater than supply.” But a spokeswoman for the Scottish Government disputed whether qualified students were being turned away.
She added: “The setting of medical student places is based on the workforce planning needs of NHS Scotland.
“Controlled access to medical teaching in order to ensure demand is met, and quality training provided, has been in place for many years and has been the policy of previous administrations.
“Fifty additional funded medical places were available this year, bringing annual intake figures in Scottish medical schools to 898.” Scotland – and particularly the north-east – is facing a GP crisis.
There have been repeated warnings of the need to recruit more family doctors amid fears a “retirement time bomb” could seriously damage services.
The latest statistics show more than half of GPs are 45 or older, while a fifth are aged over 55.
The Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland predicts there will be 740 extra GPs needed by 2020.
In June, a survey by the British Medical Association found 28.5% of Scottish practices had at least one GP vacancy.
Health Secretary Shona Robison has announced numerous initiatives to try to recruit more family doctors.
But patients are already experiencing problems with vital services, including having difficulties booking appointments.
The high cost of living in the north-east is thought to be partly responsible for deterring doctors from working in the region.
In the Highlands and islands, the remote location of many vacancies can make them very difficult to fill.
North-east residents who attend surgeries in Fraserburgh, Mintlaw, Banff and Peterhead have recently rated their experience of arranging to see a doctor significantly lower than those elsewhere in Scotland.
In May, Dr Ken Lawton of Aberdeen University warned patients “will suffer” without a drastic overhaul of the Scottish health service.