GPS will lose their automatic entitlement to a £5,000 "golden hello" payment as part of a new deal with the Scottish Government.

Talks between the Government and the British Medical Association (BMA) Scottish General Practitioners Committee have agreed to end the payments except in remote and rural communities or deprived areas - where it can be harder to attract doctors to work - from January next year.

Ending the pay-out will free-up money for other areas.

Dr Alan McDevitt, chairman of the BMA's Scottish General Practitioners Committee, said: "Having time to focus on finding solutions to the pressures of rising workload and the problems of recruitment and retention will enable us to protect and support the model of general practice."