GP practice closure fears

Reporter

Monday 22 October 2012

THE number of GP practices across Scotland could soon fall below 1000 for the first time, new figures have shown.

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Jody Harrison

As recently as April there were 1002 practices in the country – 60 fewer than a decade ago and 12 short of the total in 2011.

The statistics have sparked fears among rural communities, which traditionally struggle to attract and hold on to GPs, that many people living outside of cities will soon have to travel further for access to basic health services.

One GP, who did not want to be named, said a declining number of surgeries was leading others to move and amalgamate to share the workload created by a doctor moving out of a nearby area. The GP said: "A growing number of practices are relocating to share facilities with other practices in a bid to save as much money as possible. Doctors want to see precious NHS funding spent where it is needed most, on patients."There are benefits to moving in with others but, at the same time, there is the inevitability that some patients will have to travel further for appointments and there is the general fear that, if this has not happened to their surgery yet, it might happen sooner rather than later."Older patients are worried about how they would get to relocated practices and how far they might be from where they live."The Government said care was not affected, given that surgeries tended to merge, with GP numbers intact.But Scottish Conservative public health spokeswoman Dr Nanette Milne accused the Scottish Government of presiding over the closure of GP surgeries at a rate never seen before.She said: "We've seen them cut back police stations, cut back courts, and now they're cutting back vital GP surgeries. "The Scottish Government has to realise it can't keep allowing things to close, because there will come a point when patient safety will be placed at risk."We're trying to get attendance rates at accident and emergency down, but this will never happen if people have nowhere to go when ill."The SNP has become the party of centralisation in the NHS, and this is not something patients or professionals want to see. It is a situation that is hitting rural communities hard across the whole of Scotland."She added that the surgery in Tarves, in Alex Salmond's Aberdeenshire constituency, has closed in the past few weeks.Dr Alan McDevitt, chairman of the British Medical Association's Scottish GP committee, said more detail would be needed to identify why so many surgeries were closing. He said: "We believe practices are amalgamating, rather than closing. We are aware of cases where single-handed GPs, struggling with the burden of administration, are joining with other practices to alleviate pressure."A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said patient care was not being affected, despite a drop in the number of surgeries.She said: "If practices merge, there will be no change for patients – who will still go to the same building. But the practices can run their businesses more efficiently."

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GP practice closure fears

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