Campaigners question role of Killearn doc
A patients’group has questioned the impartiality of the health board’s reasoning for withdrawing funding for the salaried GP at Aberfoyle.
Friends of Aberfoyle and Buchlyvie Medical Practice were“disappointed”that Dr Stuart Cumming, a Killearn GP and the board’s associate medical director of primary care, explained thinking behind the move at last Thursday’s public meeting.
They claimed Dr Cumming, as part of the West Stirling cluster of medical practices, could benefit if funds earmarked for Aberfoyle were divided up among other surgeries.
Friends chairperson Gerry McGarvey said in a letter to NHS Forth Valley chief executive Cathie Cowan:“I am afraid this does call into question the impartiality of the‘thorough’yet unsubstantiated analysis he constantly referred to throughout his presentation but was unable to verify or disclose the source and research data for transparency purposes.
“We question the wisdom of the decision to have him lead as this did nothing to instil confidence amongst our communities.”
Mr McGarvey questioned the relevance of much of what Dr Cumming said and added: “We are all only interested in maintaining services of the highest quality and calibre.
“That is why I was particularly disappointed by the frequent ambiguous references being made by Dr Cumming to what I see as the inequitable redistribution of health service provision throughout a cluster that differs considerably in their needs and requirements to meet best practice.
“As was pointed out during the meeting, a race to the bottom is not acceptable.”
Dr Cumming told the Forth Inn audience the A&B medical centre qualified for salaried GP funding in the 1990s at at time when practices had responsibility for 24/7 care.
That changed in 2004 when the new GP contract gave doctors the option to opt out of full-time care. All practices in Forth Valley and the vast majority in Scotland decided to do that.
Dr Cumming added:“A&B practice is the only one to receive health board support for a full-time salaried GP. Other practices have a salaried GP but have to fund it themselves.”
Dr Cumming said funding was reviewed when the practice’s salaried GP Iain Henderson recently resigned, adding:“There is a duty for us to ensure any support is distributed equally and fairly.
“We recognise that practices have specific needs but all practices have different challenges. We looked at how we can use that funding to support all practices. This one has different needs in that it works from multiple sites but 10 other practices in Forth Valley are same.”
Dr Cumming said GPs are now small businesses and most work four-and-a-half days per week.
Referring to workload, he said 1900 patient per full-time GP was average but the figure at A&B, now with two doctors, was 1200 per GP.
He explained they intend to recruit 230 additional health care professionals to support practices by 2021.
These would include pharmacists, physiotherapists, support for mental health practitioners and nurse-led immunisation teams.
Dr Barbara Roemmele, one of four doctors listed at Balfron Health Centre, also spoke to the meeting.
She said Drymen also faces a regular influx of visitors but only has one doctor.
“There are practices in a lot more trouble and we have to support the changes where the situation is more dire,”she added.
A health board spokesman said Dr Cumming attended the meeting in his capacity as its associate medical director for primary care, adding: “Through his clinical leadership roles and continued work as a practicing GP, Dr Cumming has a detailed understanding of how rural practices work in Forth Valley and across Scotland.
“He was therefore the most appropriate person to provide the background to NHS Forth Valley’s decision to review how this funding is used to support rural GP practices in West Stirlingshire.
“There is no conflict of interest as the decisions on how this funding will be used in the future will be informed by the views of all GPs working in the area, including the Aberfoyle and Buchlyvie GPs.
“Any final decision will be taken by the NHS board and not by a single individual or GP.”