GPs warn £290m funding gap threatens future of NHS

GPs have warned that a massive funding gap must be urgently plugged in order to save the service and the future of the NHS.

BMA Scotland said that 17 years of “eroded” funding now means there is a GP funding shortfall of 22.8%.

The trade union said ministers must inject £290 million into GP services in order to deliver “full funding restoration”.

It said the funding gap, which it said had grown worse as inflation outstrips cash from the Government, is having a “huge impact” on the ability to provide patients with the treatment they need.

The BMA said this came at a time when the nation’s population continues to rise, along with a higher prevalence of disease and more treatment options.

Dr Iain Morrison, chair of the BMA’s Scottish General Practitioners Committee, said: “The funding we receive for every patient we care for has been eroded year after year against inflation since 2008.

“In all, eroded funding streams and new cost pressures have created a shortfall in practice funding of 22.8% when inflation is taken into account.

“This means practices simply do not have the resources required to employ all the staff they need and, in particular GPs, at a time when demand is going up at a rapid rate.

“We know that access to GPs is undeniably a real issue and patients can struggle to get an appointment at their surgery in a timely manner.”

Dr Morrison said medics shared the “frustration” of patients struggling to access their local GP, adding that doctors “want to be able to deliver a service that we are proud of, rather than constantly apologising for”.

“This can only be achieved if urgent action is taken to address a £290 million funding gap – around 1% of the Scottish NHS budget – to stabilise general practice and begin the process of giving our patients the access they need and deserve,” he said.

“Unless this is delivered it will leave general practice at risk of failing. We provide 90% of patient contact and without general practice, the NHS simply cannot survive.”

BMA Scotland has launched a campaign to help explain to patients why they may be struggling to get access to their GP.

Scots will be urged to “stand with your surgery” and back the union’s call for GPs to receive more funding.

Dr Morrison said it was “clear we desperately need more GPs” as the number of GPs per patient reduced from one in 1,515 in 2013 to one in 1,735.

He added: “If the Government does not act, then we really do risk the end of general practice in Scotland as we know it, and we cannot allow that to happen.

“We have put the Scottish Government on notice that the current direction of travel is leading us towards formal dispute, which the profession has told us is ultimately something they are prepared to do, if it is needed, to save general practice, and properly support the patients we care for in communities up and down Scotland.

“This would be a very last resort and we want to work at pace with Government and do all we can to avoid going down that path.

“The rhetoric for the Government on this suggests they are listening, but action is now required.”

The Scottish Government has been approached for comment.