Scots ministers: We won’t order GPS to open at the weekend

Patients’ campaigners have called on family doctors to offer more choice on appointments as ministers in Scotland rule out forcing GPS to open surgeries on Saturday.

NHS bosses in England have ordered GPS to offer routine appointments from October on Saturdays and during weekday evenings.

A doctors’ union has warned against a similar move in Scotland and the Scottish Government has confirmed there will not be changes north of the border.

However, Rachel Power of the Patient Association said: “We’re in favour of more choices and flexibility for how patients see their GPS. What the choices are and how they’re provided should be discussed and decided by practices with their patients.”

The British Medical Association said it was disappointed by the change south of the border and said Scotland should not follow suit.

Dr Andrew Buist of the BMA, who chairs the doctors union’s Scottish GP committee, said: “GPS are working hard to see patients in the face of demand running well ahead of capacity but extending hours with a limited workforce risks spreading the service thinner. The public prefer routine appointments during core hours.”

Buist added: “We are short of GPS in Scotland. The Scottish Government has a 10-year plan to increase numbers by 800 in 2027 but progress has been slow and hampered by the pandemic.”

Patients in Scotland currently have access to GP care 24 hours a day through in-hours and out-of-hours services.

Buist said: “There is a real risk in England that this imposed contract change on GPS will encourage many GPS to leave general practice, making access even worse.”

The Scottish Government said: “Scottish GP practices can agree to provide routine appointments outside core hours but the Scottish Government is not considering making this mandatory.

“The focus is on making the GP profession more attractive so more GPS can be recruited to make general practice more accessible within core hours.

“Trainee recruitment in 2021/22 has been the highest for five years, with 98% of GP training posts now filled.”