The damning figures that show NHS is not safe in SNP hands

As doctors consider industrial action over the lack of funding for GPs, the SNP’s rhetoric about the NHS is increasingly at odds with the reality

Soon, patients arriving at GP practices will be greeted by a new poster urging them to “Stand by your surgery”. But by summer, the surgery doors could be closed if the SNP government doesn’t listen.

Speaking at the start of the week, Dr Iain Morrison, chair of the British Medical Association Scotland’s GP Committee, warned that unless the SNP government takes “urgent action” to address the funding imbalance facing General Practice, “we are heading towards formal dispute”.

GPs deliver the screenings, check-ups and prescriptions that help us deal with medical conditions before they deteriorate. By treating patients quickly and proactively, they also help avoid pressure building at the hospital gates.

GPs help reduce pressure on hospitals by treating patients quickly and proactively, but they don't appear to be valued by the SNP (Picture: Tom Stoddart) | Getty Images

The money belies SNP rhetoric

But GPs don’t appear to be valued and SNP rhetoric has not been met by action. Under the SNP, primary care support has dropped from 11 per cent of the health budget to 6 per cent.

According to BMA Scotland, funding per patient has fallen every year against inflation since 2008, with the combination of funding cuts and new cost pressures creating a financial shortfall of 22.8 per cent.

A recent, damning Audit Scotland report found direct GP funding decreased by 6 per cent between 2021/22 and 2023/24 alone. The SNP still like to claim that they are committed to the NHS. But like the patient in denial about their drinking habits, they have not lived up to their pledges.

In the 2018 GP contract, the Scottish Government pledged to change the way GPs are funded to improve financial stability and move towards a model where GPs would not be expected to provide their own premises.

Yet the SNP has also paused its GP Sustainability Loan Scheme and cut the Primary Care Improvement Fund while delaying measures on financial stability. It is against this financial backdrop that GPs are hiring fewer staff even as the number of patients per GP rises.

Return of the family doctor

Crucially, in 2018 the SNP pledged to increase the number of GPs by 800 by 2027. The Audit Scotland report found that commitment is unlikely to be met – in fact, since 2013, the number of whole-time equivalent GPs has fallen by nearly 200.

Scottish Labour has pledged to raise the proportion of the health budget spent in primary care to ensure GP services are fit for the future. But this isn’t just about GPs – it’s about patients.

That’s why Scottish Labour will renegotiate the 2018 contract to reinstate advance booking and guarantee patients can be seen within 48 hours. We will restore the family doctor so that patients can have the continuity of care they value.

And we will support GPs in delivering the prevention agenda, which we know GPs want to deliver. The BMA says it is making its intervention now to give the SNP government time to respond before any actual strike action is taken.

A lack of primary care is certainly the last thing our overcrowded hospitals need. The SNP has squandered 18 years of opportunity to listen to GPs about the importance of primary care. But for the sake of patients, let’s hope they start now.

Jackie Baillie is MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader and her party’s spokesperson for health