A REVIEW of access to GPs has been announced by Scottish Health Secretary Alex Neil amid concern that patients can struggle to secure timely appointments.
A range of strategies has been tried in Scotland to make it easier for people to see their family doctor when they are ill, but official surveys still find patients running into problems.
The Scottish Government has encouraged surgeries to offer consultations during evenings and weekends and set targets to ensure most people can get appointments within 48 hours of calling their practice.
However, a range of concerns have been raised, among them patients having to ring busy receptionists at 8am in an attempt to grab a same-day appointment but being unable to arrange to see a GP a few days in advance.
It has been reported that 42% of patients manage to get an appointment within 72 hours while about one in 12 wait more than a week.
Speaking during a debate on patient care in the Scottish Parliament, Mr Neil said: "We know getting appointments can be an issue and the 48-hour access target can cause problems.
"I am today asking my officials to work with the British Medical Association (BMA) to review access across all GP practices and to develop a plan to address any issues that arise from the review."
Mr Neil also announced £1 million to support trials of new systems of delivering community medical care. It is understood a GP practice where patients just turn up without pre-booking is among the different models already being tested in Scotland.
Appearing to acknowledge concern among GPs about their workload, Mr Neil told MSPs: "GPs should get the time to do what they really want to do - which is work with individuals to ensure their medical care is right for them, their family and carers, and their local environment.
"To do this we intend to modernise the GP contract, and to transform our approach to primary care."
Dr Alan McDevitt, chairman of the BMA's Scottish General Practitioners Com- mittee, said: "We welcome the commitment to reduce bureaucracy for GPs to allow them to spend more time with their patients. I hope we can take forward discussions to make this commitment a reality for GPs in Scotland."
The Herald is campaigning for a national review to consider how NHS and social services should be tailored and funded to meet the needs of the increasing elderly population.
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