More than four in five GP practices in Scotland say demand for their services is exceeding capacity, as the profession grapples with ‘huge challenges’.

BMA Scotland polling shows 10% of Scotland’s population currently consult with their GPs each week – more than 500,000 appointments.

Dr Andrew Buist, chair of BMA’s Scottish GP Committee says the workforce is under massive strain and GPs “cannot sustain this indefinitely”.

More than a quarter of surveyed practices report having at least one GP vacancy - scaled up, NHS Scotland could be short of 225 WTE GPs.

Statistics released last month show the number of GPs barely changed in the six years leading up to the pandemic despite patient numbers rising steadily.

The findings bolster concerns that there is little capacity to pick up ‘redirected’ patients from A&E, following new Scottish government guidance.

Pre-pandemic research found that roughly one in ten patients attending Glasgow emergency departments did so because they could not get a GP appointment.

Dr Buist said: “It comes as absolutely no surprise that the vast majority of GP surgeries are saying there is simply not enough capacity to meet demand. Indeed 42% say capacity is substantially below what is required to meet demand for care.

“While this is in part, of course, due to increased demand, it is also clearly because we don’t have enough GPs.

“We already knew we were desperately requiring additional GPs – so we welcomed the 2017 SG commitment for at least 800 more – the results of this survey make it all the more urgent.”

All surveyed GP practices – which accounts for 41% of practices in Scotland – reported carrying out face to face appointments daily.

However BMA Scotland said reports of abuse of GPs and their teams is getting worse.

Almost nine out of ten practices report that staff members have been verbally or physically abused in the last month, and 78% say it has worsened since May.

 

Read more: Concerns over plan to turn away A&E patients; Scotland’s nursing gap at ‘record high’; First stage of GP recruitment drive stalled

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