How 1 in 10 GP surgeries has vanished under SNP

SCOTLAND’S GPs are under growing pressure after it emerged that almost 10 per cent of practices have disappeared since the SNP came to power.

New figures reveal there were 928 GP practices last year, a decrease from 1,025 in 2008.

The statistics, set out in Public Health Scotland’s General Practice report, also show how the average size of a practice list has swollen in line with the reduction in individual surgeries.

Each practice had an average of 5,341 patients in 2008. By last year, that had increased to 6,234 patients.

But there is huge variation across the country, with the average practice size in Aberdeen as high as 9,074, compared with 5,158 in Glasgow.

Having large numbers of patients can lead to an increase in waiting times for GP appointments, and patients spending long periods on the phone trying to get through.

Fewer practices can mean patients being forced to travel further for their health care.

GP practices can close if the family doctors running them resign or retire and no replacements are found.

In these cases, practices can merge with others or simply close altogether, with patients transferred elsewhere.

The closure of GP practices has been a problem for Scotland, with workload pressures leading to a substantial longterm shortage of GPs.

While the GP headcount has increased, at least 800 more are needed by 2030. Dr Andrew

Buist, chairman of the British Medical Association’s Scottish GP committee, said: ‘There is no denying that we need more GPs in Scotland – now more than ever before as we seek to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. Specifically, we need more GP partners to run and manage practices.’

Pamela Nash, chief executive of Pro-UK campaign group Scotland in Union, said: ‘Since coming to power the SNP has presided over a significant drop in GP practices. Reducing the number of locations where GP services are available only makes it more difficult for frail and elderly patients to get to appointments and access the care they need.’

Recruitment of GPs can be difficult in rural areas, and a number of practices have been forced to close in recent years.

These include the Bridge of Earn surgery in NHS Tayside, which shut suddenly in 2019 after the resignation of two doctors. The 3,500 patients were sent to other practices.

Another was Glencairn Medical Practice in Kilmaurs and Crosshouse, Ayrshire. Its doctors quit in 2017, saying they did not have enough funding to run the service properly. It was managed by NHS Ayrshire and Arran for two years before being taken over by another practice.

The latest figures show there were 5,134 doctors working as GPs on September 30, 2020, up by 89 compared with 2019.

GP numbers were roughly constant at around 4,900 between 2010 and 2017 before slight rises in recent years.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: ‘The SNP has delivered a record number of GPs... with more per head than any other country in the UK. We are also committed to increasing the number by a further 800 over the next decade.’

‘Difficult for elderly patients’