GP appointments, getting the NHS remobilised and waiting times – the three key issues affecting everyone in our communities.
We asked you which issues and questions you wanted us to raise – and we put them to the Health Secretary.
In the final part of our exclusive interview with Humza Yousaf MSP, he tells us:
- What relations are like with the GP community and what’s being done to help access services.
- Why some people are still waiting for health services.
- The ‘no lack of funding’ promise he is making on remobilising the NHS.
GPs say they want you to sit up and notice their problems with overwork etc. What are you going to do about that?
“My relationship with GPs is good – GPs will challenge me, I’ll challenge them back, but it’s a really constructive relationship where we go in honestly and say ‘these are our expectations’.
“GPs are a central part of the community. Anyone who’s suggested GPs haven’t worked hard through the pandemic – sorry I don’t buy that.
“I’ve spoken to GPs on the ground, not just organisations like the BMA, and they are working exceptionally hard. It’s been difficult for them.”
Why do I have to wait half an hour to get through on the phone for an appointment?
Mr Yousaf admits it’s the Government’s responsibility to make services more accessible.
“In some, not all, GP practices you’ve got to phone at 8am, there are hundreds of people queuing, and you have to keep pressing the redial and maybe get an appointment.
“That to me shows the Government has got to make sure we’re investing in the digital capabilities of the NHS to make it more accessible to people than perhaps it currently is.”
He points to funding including:
- Almost £2 million investment to improving the telephony system.
- £82m to expand teams at GP practices.
- Dundee’s Lochee Health Centre extension and refurbishment of premises.
And why can’t I see my doctor face to face?
“I want to ensure we are increasing the capacity so GPs see more people face to face.
“If you want to see a GP face to face you should have the right to do so, where it’s clinically appropriate.
“But at the same time, I don’t want to lose things like telephone consultations and video consultations.
“They play an important role and are pretty convenient for a lot of people, I think we should have a hybrid model.”
When are clinics going to go back to normal?
Remobilising the NHS is he says: “The number one priority at the moment, along with controlling the pandemic.
“Honesty is required and that’s why I’m up front with people.
“People, including the opposition, say we have to go faster and that’s fine because that’s their job and we will try to go quicker.
“I will promise people there will be no lack of funding, finance or investment and no lack of determination.”
Why are waiting lists so long?
There’s not a definite timescale to tackling the bottleneck caused by Covid, he admits.
“I can’t say to people we’re going to get through the entire NHS backlog and recover the NHS in the space of a few weeks, a few months or even a year.
“We know it’s going to take time. That’s a difficult message for people to hear.
“But I also want to give them hope and an assurance.
“I promise them we are leaving no stone unturned. We will throw in as much money as we possibly can in order to recover it as quickly as we can.”
