The convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee, Johann Lamont, has said “very significant questions” about rural general practice have not been answered by the Scottish Government.

As a result, the Health Secretary will be asked to give evidence to MSPs on the petition, which raises concerns about the effect of the new GP contract on rural doctors.

Angus McDonald, deputy convener and SNP MSP, put forward a call for the Cabinet Secretary to give evidence, stating:

“We shouldn’t forget that there are significant concerns from rural GPs even before the contracts were introduced so given the continued concerns…that the GP contract is not fit for purpose in rural communities, there are quite a number of questions that need to be answered by the government.”

Ms Lamont hoped for the Health Secretary to come before the Committee “speedily, because we realise that this is an ongoing issue and as long as is not resolved, it is going to have consequences for broader health provision in rural areas.”

Speaking during today’s meeting, the Highlands & Islands MSP, Rhoda Grant, was highly critical of the new GP contract in relation to rural general practice.

The petition under consideration today echoes concerns raised by the Rural GP Association Of Scotland around the workload allocation formula.

Opponents are calling for an adjustment to the formula amid fears that it does not account for the extra and specialised work that GPs in rural settings undertake.

“I understand there was polling done of rural GPs and how many had supported the contract and that was a very low number indeed; most were against the new contract,” Ms Grant said.

“It doesn’t recognise the differences of how people operate in rural areas, there might be a larger area and larger number of home visits…they have that additional work that is not recognised in the contract.”

In the middle of March, the Rural GP Association resigned from a Scottish Government working group set up to address rural doctors’ concerns about the new GP contract, claiming efforts to find solutions ‘have fallen by the wayside’.

Ms Grant went on to highlight difficulties in recruiting and retaining GPs in rural areas would likely not be helped by the new contract, before adding: “The way the contract has been drawn up has really impacted on the morale of rural GPs who often work above and beyond, and they don’t feel valued at all.

“The contract flies in the face of what I think we all recognised as issues with health inequalities in that it hasn’t worked for rural areas and neither has it works for deprived urban areas.

“It looks at the number of appointments available and looks at the age profile of patients in a practice. We all know in deprived areas there can be a ten-year life expectancy gap which actually means the deprived areas get less because their patients don’t live as long as other areas.

“So it seems to have moved funding in the opposite direction to where it was understood that funding needed to move.”

These concerns will also manifest themselves today in Parliament as questions were asked on what action Government is taking to re-engage the Rural GP Association and more generally on what support the Government is providing to rural practices.