Gray confirms additional £13.6m for general practice

The Scottish Government has provided a further £13.6 million to general practice to help with staffing.

Speaking at the conference of British Medical Association (BMA) Scotland’s local medical committee on Friday, Health Secretary Neil Gray said his focus and that of the Government remains “firmly on finding ways to recruit more GPs”.

The announcement comes as the chairman of the BMA Scottish general practitioners committee, Dr Iain Morrison, urged the Government to increase funding from 6.5% of the NHS budget to 15% to allow for the recruitment of 1,800 whole-time equivalent GPs.

Addressing the conference, Mr Gray said: “I recognise the significant financial and workload challenges facing both the NHS as a whole and general practice, especially during this period of high demand, and understand the significant strain this places on GPs.

“My focus remains firmly on finding ways to recruit more GPs, even within the constraints of the current financial climate, and that is why I am allocating an additional £13.6 million for general practice this financial year to support staff costs.

There is still considerable distance to travel to deliver the more equitable funding settlement for general practice that is clearly required to put the profession on a sustainable footing

“This additional funding will help GPs to underpin business decisions and provide high-quality patient care.

“Sustainable reform of the NHS means we must look to shift more care to primary and community care with a relentless focus on better outcomes for people.

“The Scottish Government reform programme will develop the means to credibly restore, and further increase GP and wider primary care spend, within the overall health budget.

“This will be a long-term endeavour but this strategic shift is crucial.

“Our reform plans over the next period will look to explore this in partnership with key stakeholders including the GP profession.”

In the past eight months, the minister said, he had travelled to all of Scotland’s 14 health boards and visited a number of GP practices.

“Let me be unequivocal: I am taking your feedback seriously,” he said to attendees.

“I won’t shy away from these challenges, and I will continue to advocate for you – both publicly and in Parliament.

“Your work is the backbone of our health service, and you deserve nothing less than unwavering support.”

Responding to the announcement, Dr Morrison said: “Today’s funding announcement is a welcome step in the right direction in terms of redressing the loss of funding directly delivered to GPs in recent years.

“The indication of the way this funding is being made available and the acknowledgement that it is required urgently is something that must now be built upon substantially.

“Because, make no mistake, there is still considerable distance to travel to deliver the more equitable funding settlement for general practice that is clearly required to put the profession on a sustainable footing.

“Not least, we still need reassurances on mitigation for the hugely worrying increases in national insurance payments and then a much more significant, long-term increase in funding into general practice for the good of the whole of the health service and the patients we care for.”

The Health Secretary also took aim at the UK Government’s decision to increase employer national insurance contributions.

He said it will have a “major financial impact on GPs”.

Mr Gray added: “I have been very clear that this is completely unacceptable and the UK Government must fully cover the costs.

“Scotland’s GPs should not be paying the price for UK Government decisions.”

A spokesman for the UK Government said: “The Budget delivered more money than ever before for Scottish public services and the Scottish Government receives over 20% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending.

“It is for the Scottish Government to allocate this across its own public sector and meet the priorities of people in Scotland.

“It will also receive additional Barnett funding on top of this record £47.7 billion settlement as part of support provided in relation to changes to employer national insurance.”