1. To ask the Scottish Government whether it tracks how many GP practices are currently being run directly by NHS boards. (S6O-02204)

Public Health Scotland regularly publishes data in relation to GP practices, including their contractual status. As of 1 April 2023, 57 out of 905 GP practices in Scotland were classed as 2C practices, with 2C status usually being understood to mean that those practices are run directly by an NHS board.

The decisions by Inverurie and Oldmeldrum practices to end their contracts with NHS Grampian due to a lack of GPs mean that 34,000 patients within a 5-mile radius in Aberdeenshire face challenges in accessing a local doctor. Dr Innes, a partner at the Inverurie practice, said:

“We have explored every avenue to recruit ... but there ... are not enough ... GPs out there.”

It is clear that GPs are beyond the end of their tether at the lack of support from the Scottish Government.

What specific measures were put in place by the cabinet secretary’s predecessor to address the lack of GPs? When will the north-east have sufficient numbers?

A range of actions have already been taken to support GP numbers. For example, we are going through a programme of recruiting another 800 GPs into the system by 2027. We have also put in place additional measures. For example, since 2017, there has been an increase of 291 GPs, and we now have a record 5,209 GPs working in practices in Scotland.

Alongside that, we have put in place initiatives to support GPs in rural areas such as Aberdeenshire, in relation to which Liam Kerr made representations, including the golden hello programme. We are also taking a range of actions to encourage graduate entry medical students to go into rural settings through the Scottish graduate entry medicine—ScotGEM—programme.

A range of work is under way to increase further recruitment to general practice in Scotland, as well as a range of measures to encourage people to work in our rural areas. As I mentioned, a record 5,209 GPs are operating in Scotland at the moment.

However, I recognise the concerns that Liam Kerr has raised on behalf of his constituents. I know that the health and social care partnership and the health board are looking at the specific issues that exist in relation to the Inverurie practice and whether it would be possible for others to come in to operate the practice or whether it will require to be operated directly by the local health board in the future. It is important that people are reassured that they will continue to be able to access general practice services, whether those are delivered through the NHS or through another practice.

What encouragement can the cabinet secretary give to NHS Tayside to consider directly providing GP services in the village of Invergowrie, in my constituency, where there is some uncertainty over the future of GP provision, to ensure that my elderly and vulnerable constituents can have convenient access to GP services, given the transport challenges that they may face in accessing services in other parts of the county or in the city of Dundee?

It is important that any practice that is looking to change access to GP services in a local health board area goes through a process of engaging with the health board to ensure that patients at the practice will continue to have access to a GP as and when that is necessary.

I encourage the practice in question to engage with the health board, and I encourage the health board, in engaging with the practice, to take proactive action to ensure that the concerns that John Swinney has raised regarding his constituents’ access to GP services, particularly in the light of the transport issues that they face, are addressed and that appropriate measures are maintained in place so that his constituents can access a GP.

Jeane Freeman brought in the policy to recruit another 800 doctors within 10 years. Audit Scotland suggested that that number was arbitrary, given that Scotland was about 860 doctors short at that time, and that, at the end of the 10 years, because of wastage, we would still be 660 GPs short. Can the cabinet secretary enlighten us as to why the number 800 was arrived at?

As the member has just acknowledged, the figure predates me, but it was chosen in recognition of the need for an increase in the number of GPs in the country. The good thing—I am sure that the member will be pleased about this—is that we are making progress on the recruitment programme at an appropriate rate, so that we can deliver on the 800 figure by 2027.

At the same time, we are doing all that we can to encourage more people into general practice as we go forward.

A representative of the British Medical Association has said that the closure of Inverurie medical practice in Aberdeenshire means that “no practice is safe” and that the crisis in GP care could lead to the collapse of NHS Scotland. What is the Scottish Government doing to support affected communities until such measures to increase GP numbers take place?

Key to supporting primary care services that are delivered by general practices are not only GPs but the wider support teams that assist them in delivering the services that patients require. The provision of advanced nurse practitioners, the deployment of musculoskeletal physiotherapists and the basing of pharmacists in GP practices can all help to provide a range of primary care services directly to patients.

That workforce has increased markedly over recent years. We have recruited more than 3,000 additional staff to work alongside GP practices to support them in the delivery of the services that they offer to patients.

We certainly need to do more to expand and develop that workforce further, because primary care is absolutely critical to delivering a sustainable healthcare system. That wider multidisciplinary primary care team that can support GPs is going to be critical in making sure that we can deliver that.

Alongside that, we also need to ensure that patients get access to the right services directly at the time when they require them. Much of those can be provided by primary care, with the right support team in place, rather than people always having to go to a secondary care setting, which is what happens for most patients at the moment.

The GP position at the Hillswick surgery, in my constituency, is still vacant after six months of advertising. Hillswick offers an established training practice for medical students. How is the Scottish Government supporting GP practices in island areas to recruit and retain GPs?

As I said, we are taking forward a number of initiatives to help to attract GPs to rural areas, including our golden hello programme, which helps to support GPs to take up harder-to-fill posts in rural environments such as the one that the member highlighted.

We have also established the ScotGEM programme to encourage graduates to enter general practice in rural areas. That will encourage more people to go into rural areas such as the one that the member has highlighted.