Reacting to news that one of Scotland's largest GP practices, Inverurie Medical Practice, is ending its NHS contract because of recruitment struggles, Andrew Buist, Chair of BMA Scotland’s GP Committee said:

“This is extremely worrying news – and should be of huge concern – but sadly it won’t be a surprise to anyone who understands the scale of the crisis GPs are facing across Scotland. We don’t have enough GPs, and as the situation at Inverurie makes clear, practices are struggling desperately to recruit and retain the doctors they need. We know the huge mismatch between demand and capacity this is creating – which is bad for practices and the patients they are striving to do their very best for. The ultimate result is the position in Inverurie – and I have no doubt that it’s being replicated across the country. There are no quick fixes here – but we simply must start investing properly in recruiting and retaining the GPs we need. Recent cuts to funding send entirely the wrong message and are undermining practices and their hardworking staff. We also seem to have lost the political will to actually deliver on the GP contract agreed in 2018. With the five year anniversary of the contract tomorrow – it’s clear the Government have not delivered effectively on their side of the deal. As it stands, they have singularly failed to achieve the goal we all agreed of easing unnecessary pressure on GPs’ time to free them up to concentrate on the patients who need them most. Instead, GPs are struggling simply to get to the end of every single day. We now have a new Cabinet Secretary and I hope Michael Matheson- whom I am seeking an urgent meeting with – will now finally review his Government’s approach and deliver the now urgent help we need to get out of what is a desperate situation.”

Contact: Tim Jays
Head of Public affairs and Strategic Comms, BMA Scotland

(0131) 2473018 / 07768 005850