NHS planning care shake-up to attract new GPs

Residents across Perth and Kinross will be placed at the heart of change to NHS services, health bosses said.

NHSTayside announced it will develop a new primary care improvement plan, which aims to redesign primary care services over the next three years to meet the needs of communities better.

The new priorities for the health board will be its vaccination transformation programme, pharmacotherapy services, community treatment and care services, urgent care, community link workers and additional professional roles such as physiotherapy and community mental health.

MichelleWatts, associate medical director for primary care, said: “One of the key aims of the plan is to attract more doctors to the profession by creating more fulfilling roles.

“By further developing the multidisciplinary team connected to practices, it is hoped that doctors can refocus on their senior clinical leadership role within the community.

“This will free up capacity to manage the more complex problems and allow for new roles to be created for health professionals to be part of multidisciplinary teams, supporting patient care which is safe, more person-centred and delivered as close to home as possible.”

The new plan has to be approved by the Perth and Kinross integration joint board, as well as the other joint boards in Dundee and Angus, before it can be put in place.

NHS Tayside said having a single plan for the whole region means everything can be fully integrated but flexible to meet the specific needs of each community.

The new plan would also seek to support the changes required under the new national GP contract, which aims to make general practice a more attractive profession.

The new contract will also look to achieve financial stability for GPs and reduce GP workload by expanding primary care and support.

David Shaw, co-author of the Tayside primary care improvement plan, said:“The plan describes better designed, better funded services provided closer to where people live.

“It will take work away from a stressed general practice system, which should help free up GPs to offer the necessary expert advice required for both patients and the wider teams that care for patients.

“It represents a significant investment in primary care within Tayside, which will help develop the range of services offered by our physiotherapists, pharmacists, nurses and other healthcare workers.

“It is a tremendous opportunity to advance the quality of healthcare patients receive.”

The improvement fund was made possible by a £3.6m grant from the Scottish Government for 2018-2019, which is set to increase every year until 2022.