I genuinely fear for GP practices this winter amid £5m funding cut - Dr Andrew Buist

It used to be that around this time of year, perhaps slightly earlier, the NHS in Scotland would get its winter readiness plans underway – whether that’s additional funding, planning for sickness absences, or finding more beds for patients. That’s not been the case so much this year, because we have been in what feels like a perpetual winter for the past 18 months.

I know my counterparts in secondary care will agree with this as they find themselves in the same situation, but today I speak for general practice across Scotland and make a plea to the public to understand we are doing all we can. This is a critical time for us as we face the twin threats of practice workloads reaching breaking point, and the spiralling operating costs threatening the sustainability of practices.

Failure to support general practice now could have dire consequences for patient care across the country this winter. That is not an exaggeration – my colleagues the length and breadth of Scotland are deeply worried about the impact cuts to primary care funding will have on their patients.

Last year, the Scottish Government pledged a £30 million sustainability support package for general practice, to be paid in two installments: £15 million in December 2021, and £15 million in April this year. That second installment was delayed time and again, until we were told two weeks ago that it was being cut from £15 million to £10 million.

That announcement came shortly after more than £50million intended to support the development of health board teams within GP practices – such as pharmacists, nurses, physiotherapists and mental health specialists – was withdrawn.

That is a huge amount of healthcare support and suggests a worrying trend of stepping away from promised investment when general practice needs it the most. We have growing concerns that more GP practices in Scotland are at risk of collapsing as we head into what many think will be the hardest winter our health service as ever experienced. What happens to our patients if primary care collapses? What happens to secondary care?

Our primary care system is the foundation of the NHS in Scotland and desperately needs more, not less, investment. I genuinely fear for practices already struggling to keep pace with spiralling demand. The consequences for the communities deprived of their GP services – or having to cope with a brutally diminished service – are severe.

This is a huge blow to the morale of GPs, and once again makes us question just how valued we really are. It will put GPs under further pressure as they do the best they can for their patients within the current limitations, but I fear on top of everything else this will likely damage GP retention.

The £5m Scottish Government cut to GP funding this winter is a serious blow to morale of already under pressure family doctors, writes Dr Andrew Buist of BMA Scotland.

Work-related stress and distress caused by working in a system with inadequate resource to meet patients’ needs is sadly something which is a universal experience for doctors now – but it shouldn’t be that way, and it is driving GPs out of the profession, only making the position even worse for our patients, and those who remain.

Dr Andrew Buist, chair of the BMA’s Scottish GP Committee