Number of patients at GP practices controlled by health boards has almost doubled in a decade

THE number of patients registered with GP practices run directly by health boards has nearly doubled in a decade amid a surge in family doctors quitting their contracts.

More than 160,000 patients were registered with so-called “2c” practices in 2016, up from around 83,000 in 2007.

The arrangement was originally designed to ensure that primary care could be provided in remote and rural areas or to provide a specialist service, for example to homeless people.

However, as The Herald revealed in May, a record 52 GP practices – including 11 in Lothian, two in Dundee and two in Greater Glasgow and Clyde – have now handed back their General Medical Services (GMS) contracts to health boards amid a crisis in the recruitment and retention of family doctors.

The latest figures from the Royal College of GPs Scotland show 160,322 patients – 2.8 per cent of all those in Scotland are registered with practices where the GPs are no longer in charge. That compared to 1.5 per cent of patients, or 83,290, in 2007.

It raises the prospect that more patients are being offered a pared down GP service, meaning that it meets the minimum criteria set out in the GMS contract without any “added extras” the GP partners might offer.

Dr Miles Mack, chairman of RCGP Scotland, said: “Across Scotland, GP practices are being forced to close their doors or hand their contracts back.”

Health Secretary Shona Robison said: “There are a variety of reasons why boards would take over. Boards have historically either had involvement in the running of, or provided support, to GP practices.”