Scottish GPS back reform with ‘historic’ new contract
●71% support plan to reduce doctors’ workloads and attract new recruits
A historic new contract for Scotland’s GPS is to be brought in which will herald drastic changes to the way primary care is delivered.
The deal will be implemented after winning the backing of more than seven out of ten doctors (71.5 per cent), who voted to adopt the new proposals. They will mean patients will not automatically see a doctor when booking an appointment at their local medical practice.
The new direction of travel aims to cut doctors’ workloads by moving towards a multi-disciplinary approach, which will see other healthcare professionals such as pharmacists, nurse practitioners and physiotherapists play a greater role in the provision of care.
The new contract is backed with £100 million of funding from the Scottish Government, which will work alongside the British Medical Association (BMA) in delivering the proposals.
Dr Alan Mcdevitt, chair of the BMA’S Scottish GP committee, said he believed the new contract would make Scotland “the most exciting place to be a GP in the western world”.
He said: “I am delighted that the
proposed contract that we have worked with the Scottish Government to create will now be implemented.
“I truly believe this contract offers stability and security of funding for practices in Scotland and will help to reduce the pressures of GP workload and improve recruitment and retention.
“The decision to proceed with the new contract reflects the high level of support in the poll of the profession and the views fed back through local medical committees.
“However, as with any poll, there are inevitably those who did not feel able to give their support to the contract.
“We have heard the concerns that they have raised with us, particularly around how additional services and health professionals will be provided in rural areas and their concerns about the income and expenses guarantee.
“A short life working group tasked with providing solutions so that the contract is delivered in a way that works well for rural areas will be established, which will also look for further ways in which rural general practice can be supported.
“This contract offers something to GP practices in every part of Scotland and I hope that young doctors will be encouraged by the direction we are going in to choose a career in general practice.”
The Scottish Government, which aims to supply an extra 800 GPS by 2027, described it as the biggest reform of GP services in Scotland in more than a decade.
One in five GPS will be better off as a result of this deal. From April 2019, no full-time GP partner will earn less than £80,430 a year.
An extra £23m is being invested to ensure no practice loses cash as a result of the way funding is allocated in future. With around one in four GP posts vacant, this should go some way to making the profession more attractive to medical students.
The GP is being rebranded as an“expert medical generalist” who will provide clinical leadership, but increasingly will not be the person someone sees for more routine care.
The benefit to patients should be that, by boosting GP numbers and giving them financial stability, consultations will be longer and doctors should be able to concentrate on people with multiple medical problems.
However, the low turnout of just 38.86 per cent was slammed by representatives from the Deep End practice in Govan, which deals with some of the most socially-deprived patients in the country, and rural GPS who said the contract would go ahead with the backing of just 29 per cent of GPS.
Health secretary Shona Robison said: “This new contract, which is a historic joint agreement between the Scottish Government and the BMA, will ensure that GPS are able to spend more time with patients and less time on bureaucracy. It will cut doctors’ overall workload and make general practice an even more attractive career prospect.
“We’ve worked shoulder to shoulder with the BMA to develop this contract and the fact it has the support of the members means I am confident it is the very best deal for GPS right across the country as well as for patients themselves.”