As the nation’s GP crisis worsens, it has been revealed nearly a quarter of Fife practices are full up.
Scottish Liberal Democrat Leader Willie Rennie has joined with Tay Bridgehead councillor Tim Brett in voicing his concern over the shock statistics.
He revealed 13 — 23% — of Fife’s practices are full.
This includes every one in Kirkcaldy, Primrose Lane in Rosyth, Millhill and Hospital Hill surgeries in Dunfermline and one of the practices in Leven Health Centre.
Mr Brett added a “second is expected to follow” in Rosyth.
Mr Rennie said: “General practice is the bedrock of our health system and this information, once again, draws stark attention to failures that the Scottish Government have made in not addressing concerns raised by GPs.
“We have been highlighting this problem for some time but the situation is not getting any better.
“Residents across Fife will be concerned that this situation is continuing.”
The revelation comes hot on the heels of a concerted effort to take GP and health services into account when handling large scale housing developments as GPs already struggle to cope with current workloads.
Mr Rennie added: “Across Scotland we will be more than 800 GPs short by 2021 unless improvements are made according to the Royal College of GPs.
“The problem is that this has got worse since the RCGP first warned about the problem.
“The SNP Government have also been warned by Audit Scotland over the state of the NHS so action is needed now before the situation deteriorates even further.
“Although a quarter practices are full up the pressures on every practice is Fife is evident from the feedback I receive from GPs and patients.”
Mr Brett said he knew access to appointments was of concern to many residents.
“We are fortunate in the Taybridgehead area that lists are not closed but I am concerned at the pressure that general practice is under and the ability of patients to be able to get urgent appointments,” he added.
Health Secretary Shona Robison said she was aware of the challenges being experienced by practices within Fife but had been reassured that NHS Fife was working hard to minimise the disruption for patients.
“We are committed to investing in our GP and primary care services, which are at the heart of our NHS.
“That is why we recently announced an additional £500 million for primary care by the end of this parliament – increase spending on primary care services to 11% of the frontline NHS budget.
“However, we also know primary care services need to adapt to meet the demands of an ageing population with more complex, long-term conditions.
“We are continuing to take forward a programme of work to transform the way we deliver these services, as well as negotiating a new GP contract to put the profession on a sustainable footing for the future.”
