NHS forced to hire psychologist ... to treat stressed GPs
Row over ‘preferential treatment’ for staff
STRESSED GPs are getting to see counsellors within days while patients wait months for mental health services.
Under-pressure family doctors now have direct access to a clinical psychologist as part of a £100,000 pilot scheme.
Health bosses have employed a specialist consultant to treat GPs and surgery staff, saying there is ‘significant concern’ about their psychological wellbeing amid soaring ‘pressures’ on Scotland’s NHS.
The trial scheme has been extended to all GPs and surgery staff in one region so far and could be rolled out nationwide.
But last night, Harry Fone, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Many people may be dismayed to learn that GPs and surgery staff are receiving preferential treatment over patients.’
The pilot was launched by NHS Dumfries and Galloway last December, with details in the board’s newly published ‘Working Well’ report. It states: ‘There has been significant concern about the psychological wellbeing of GPs and GP staff for some time given the pressures they are experiencing.
‘Doctors, including general practitioners, continue to experience high levels of workplace stress and burnout.
‘The pressures facing GPs have been compounded by increased patient demand… as well as recruitment and retention issues.’ For the six-month trial, the board hired a locum consultant to support GPs. It has been extended to all surgery staff for another six months.
Psychologist appointments can be offered out of hours so that the GP’s care of their own patients is not affected.
Dr Louise Cumbley, director of psychology for NHS Dumfries and Galloway, said a recruitment crisis and contract changes had increased pressure on staff – and almost 15 per cent of the area’s GPs had accessed the service.
She added: ‘It is having a positive impact on the well-being of the staff accessing that service.
‘We don’t want them coming to work and feeling psychologically unwell – that’s not good for them or their patients.
‘If we can, with one session, support someone to support 20 people, that allows us to have more people offering help across our population. This is not taking capacity away from our adult mental health service; this is as well as, rather than instead of.’ Dr Carey Lunan, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland, backed the scheme, saying: ‘GPs are struggling – 37 per cent feel so overwhelmed by their daily tasks that they feel they cannot cope at least once per week.
‘To continue to deliver high quality, safe and compassionate care to patients, our doctors need to be well themselves.’
The NHS has been missing a target set by the Scottish Government that at least 90 per cent of patients who need psychological therapy should wait no longer than 18 weeks after referral.
In the three months to March this year, 77.4 per cent of patients were seen within that time. The figure in Dumfries and Galloway was 73.7 per cent.
Scottish Tory health spokesman Miles Briggs said: ‘If this helps GPs cope with an everincreasing workload and provide better care, that’s a good thing.
‘The Nationalists have repeatedly ignored the warnings surrounding the GP crisis.’