One in four surgeries is struggling to recruit a GP

ONE in four GP surgeries now has a job vacancy for a family doctor.

An SNP-led recruitment drive last summer failed to attract enough candidates, a survey by the British Medical Association (BMA) Scotland shows.

More than 70 per cent of the empty posts have been vacant for more than six months.

The figures are the latest sign of the deepening GP crisis and have sparked fears that the chronic staff shortages will hit vulnerable patients the hardest.

BMA Scotland said fewer young doctors are choosing to work in general practice, deterred by the increased workloads.

Scottish Conservative health spokesman Donald Cameron said: ‘Yet again we have further evidence of the extensive crisis facing GP surgeries across the country.

‘The high number of vacancies will have a direct impact on vulnerable people who need their local doctor.

‘It will also place an additional strain on GPs already under pressure.’

He added: ‘The SNP’s approach to workforce planning in primary care has been shambolic, and the fact one in four practices have vacancies is evidence of that.’

Scots Labour health spokesman Anas Sarwar said: ‘After ten years of SNP mismanagement, we have an NHS workforce crisis. People are not getting the care they deserve.’

Of the 960 GP practices, more than half – 514 – responded to the survey. Of those, 26.46 per cent had a vacancy, with 171 vacancies reported over 133 practices.

The survey shows 97 of those (72.9 per cent) had been open for more than six months.

In Fife, 35 per cent reported a vacancy, while in Lanarkshire the figure was 38.7 per cent and in Dumfries and Galloway it was 41.67 per cent.

In Grampian, 47.37 per cent of respondents had a vacancy, but the BMA said the response rate in that area to its survey had been low, meaning the problem could be greater than the results suggest.

The most recent NHS Scotland figures, from 2015, show there were the equivalent of 3,645 full-time GPs.

BMA Scotland is running a ‘speed dating’ event in Glasgow today to try to match practices with GPs.

Dr Alan McDevitt, chairman of BMA Scotland’s GP committee, said: ‘The fact that more than one in four GP practices in Scotland had a vacant position in this snapshot survey is extremely troubling. It indicates that the recruitment and retention problems in general practice are not improving.

‘Every unfilled vacancy puts more and more strain on remaining GPs, who must struggle to cover the gaps in their practice while coping with increasing demands on GP services.’

Dr McDevitt added: ‘The BMA is negotiating a new contract for GPs in Scotland and addressing recruitment and retention issues is one of our top priorities.

‘But in the meantime, we need to ensure that practices are being supported.’

Health Secretary Shona Robison said: ‘We have delivered a record number of NHS staff – an increase of over 12,200 whole-time equivalent since 2006. This includes the highest proportion of GPs per head in the UK.’

She said the Scottish Government would invest a further £500million by the end of this parliament, adding: ‘This spending increase in primary care, to 11 per cent of the frontline NHS budget, will support the development of a multi-disciplinary approach, with increased staffing as well as investment in GP services and health centres.’

‘Not getting care they deserve’