A report from the Royal College of General Practitioners has claimed that Scotland could be short of around 830 GPs by 2020, with a significant number of shortages likely to be felt in rural areas of Perth and Kinross, Fife, Stirling and Clackmannanshire.
Mid-Scotland and Fife MSP, Liz Smith, has called on the Scottish Government to do more to ensure that people across the region have access to a GP and has repeated calls from her party to have 10 per cent of all health funding directed towards general practice.
Academic studies have shown that the failure to properly fund GPs in recent years has eroded their ability to act as “gatekeepers” to the NHS – thereby pushing up demand on secondary care.
Commenting Liz Smith MSP said:
“Today’s warning makes clear the scale of challenges affecting the health service in Perth and Kinross, Fife, Stirling and Clackmannanshire.
“Unless there is real change strains on GP practices across the region will only continue to grow.
“GP’s are central to the viability of rural communities throughout Perth and Kinross, Fife, Stirling and Clackmannanshire. We need to train more GP’s whilst making healthcare provision in rural areas an attractive career option for those studying medicine.
“The Scottish Government also needs to look at other strategies for decreasing dependence on GP’s including the use of pharmacists to prescribe drugs for minor conditions.
“The Scottish Conservatives are committed to seeing 10% of all health care funding distributed to general practice and we believe doing so can help overt the crisis predicted by the RCGP. We are also committed to working with the Scottish Universities to ensure that the restrictions they face in terms of the capped intake of Scottish domiciled medical students is addressed."