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There are 90 fewer GP practices in Scotland than a decade ago but almost a quarter of a million more patients meaning practices are facing a sustainability crisis.
A new sustainability dashboard from the British Medical Association (BMA) revealed that almost one in ten practices in Scotland have formally closed their lists to new patients. Eight practices have also indicated they plan to hand their GMS contracts back to the health board in 2023.
Dr Andrew Buist, chair of the BMA’s Scottish GP committee said: “These are extremely worrying trends and the data on the dashboard indicates that nowhere is safe or sustainable for general practice currently. The only area we are seeing a decrease in the average number of patients per WTE GP is Orkney – everywhere else is reporting increasing patient numbers with fewer GPs and fewer practices overall.
“It is simply unsustainable, and we are seeing that now in the numbers of GP practices which have closed their lists to patients over the past few years because they would be unable to safely provide the level of care required if they continued to take on new patients.
“This year alone at least eight practices have indicated their intention to hand back their contract to their local health board – if the health boards are not in a position to take over the running of those practices, they will close completely, and all of their patients will be dispersed to other practices – further increasing pressures elsewhere and leading to a domino effect of practice closures.”
No GP practice is safe from falling over in this crisis
The BMA said this was especially concerning for older and more vulnerable patients who will be left wondering where they go from here, faced with the prospect of a practice that is unfamiliar to them and GPs who do not know their history.
It said that in 2017 the Scottish government pledged an additional 800 GPs by 2027, but six years later only 113 new GPs have been recruited.
Dr Buist added: “It is clear to me – and has been for some time – that unless there is a change of policy within Scottish government, almost no practice can consider themselves safe from falling over in this crisis. I cannot be any clearer when I say that intervention is needed now.”