Plea over out-of-hours GP cover

The challenge was made by Scottish Tory leader Annabel Goldie, who said people in Kinloch Rannoch, Perthshire, are being "denied" acceptable cover.

The long-running argument dates back to a petition from last year, culminating in an inquiry by MSPs into rural cover.

A legal battle has since been sparked by the community in an attempt to have out-of-hours access re-instated.

During First Minister's Questions at the Scottish Parliament yesterday, Ms Goldie said: "What on earth has gone wrong in Kinloch Rannoch? A community that has been denied acceptable out-of-hours GP cover. And why has the Scottish Government ended up in court over this issue?"

She accused Ms Sturgeon of "refusing" to talk to locals and added: "This is a community deeply concerned about an issue which actually covers a great deal of Scotland, unless you happen to live in the Central Belt, or metropolitan or urban areas."

Turning to First Minister Alex Salmond, she said: "Will his health secretary now intervene?"

She also asked if the SNP leader will discuss potential renegotiation of GP contracts with counterparts at the UK government.

The Holyrood inquiry found that "trust and confidence" in the current out-of-hours system has been lost.

Arrangements have changed since the introduction of the new GP contract in 2004, which effectively allowed doctors to opt out of providing them.

Services are now provided by a mixture of GPs, teams of doctors and specially-trained nurses and paramedics.

But many have complained about out-of-hours care since the changes were made.

The First Minister defended his government's record on the NHS, adding: "Communities in Scotland do have satisfactory out-of-hours cover. I represent, and am proud to represent, a rural community. I know what the situation is in terms of out-hours-cover. Of course everyone in many communities in Scotland, not least our own communities, would like to have improved services.

"That's absolutely the case – they are getting improved services."