FAMILY doctors were on a collision course with the Scottish Government last night over plans to extend GP hours, with fears that many will keep their doors shut.
Last year, the SNP promised it would work with GPs to provide appointments outside normal hours to help working people see their doctor.
But yesterday, Scottish GP leaders said there was real anger among doctors about the way in which politicians
were trying to impose extended hours.
The British Medical Association (BMA) in Scotland said its poll of GPs found the majority had chosen the first deal presented to them by the Scottish Government, which would give them extra funding in return for working longer hours. However, 97 per cent of GPs said they had only selected this option as it was the "less worse" of the two proposals put to them.
As the arrangement is voluntary, it could mean hundreds of GPs would shun working longer hours – which could amount to an extra week's work a year – and opt to take a cut in funding, amounting to thousands of pounds. If enough GPs took this stance, it could make a mockery of the SNP's pledge to make GP access more flexible.
The BMA surveyed more than 27,000 GPs across the UK, including almost 3,000 in Scotland, about the options put to them.
In Scotland the first offer – option A – would see GPs working an extra 30 minutes a week for every 1,000 registered patients. In return, the Scottish Government promised £9.5 million in extra funding, plus £6.5 million diverted from money already awarded to GPs. The alternative, option B, would be up for discussion, but would mean no extra funds and more money diverted from current funding.
The BMA found 93 per cent of GPs selected option A, while just 5 per cent went for option B.
Dr Dean Marshall, chairman of the BMA's Scottish GPs committee, said doctors were never opposed to working extended hours, but were angry at the way the negotiations were handled.
He accused the Scottish Government of "tinkering" with a UK-wide offer being led by Westminster, rather than having the confidence to work with GPs to develop a Scottish solution, which would have seen extended hours being provided in areas of real demand, but not imposed across the board.
Dr Marshall said of the current situation: "Patients will lose out as they will not get the improved access they expect and the Scottish Government loses out because it cannot deliver its promises and has lost the support of a key part of the health service."
He added that there were concerns about the support staff needed for extended hours and stressed it was for individual GP practices to decide if they wanted to provide extended hours.
Ross Finnie, the Lib Dems' health spokesman, said the poll was "a damning indictment of the Scottish Government's handling of our local GPs".
And Dr Richard Simpson, Labour's public health spokesman, said: "It is regrettable BMA members were forced to choose the 'less-worse' option."
Nicola Sturgeon, the health secretary, welcomed GPs' vote for flexible working hours.
SENSE MUST PREVAILI CAN see why patients would want flexible access to their GP, writes John Garner.
I leave home at 7:15am each morning and get back at 7pm at night. As a patient, I would have to take a half-day's leave to get an appointment. I would therefore welcome an early-morning or evening appointment with my doctor.
However, under the proposed model, these appointments would not be reserved for patients who could not be seen during normal hours. We could end up just seeing patients who could easily have come in the day.
In my practice, we have not yet got enough detail to decide whether we will provide extended hours. Currently, none of our support staff wants to work in the evening or on Saturday mornings.
There needs to be some common sense built into the proposals so these extra appointments are protected for patients with difficulties seeing a GP, otherwise they will not have the desired effect.
• Dr John Garner is a GP in Edinburgh
The full article contains 705 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
