The new general practice contract agreed by the Scottish Government and the British Medical Association (BMA) will see funding slashed for all GP practices across the Western Isles says Donald Cameron MSP .
The new contract, which was accepted by the BMA Scottish GPs committee following
majority backing from a members’ poll in which only four out of ten GPs took part
in, is the first Scotland-
Concerns have been raised over claims that the deal see funding cut for rural surgeries while central belt practices will receive more money.
According to the Rural GP Association of Scotland, every practice across the Western Isles will suffer reduced funding.
It says the sole practice on Barra to be worst hit with a cut of 60.2% of its income allocation.
The organisation’s figures show that one of the two surgeries in Stornoway is set to see a cut of nearly 29% The other is expected to receive a near 21% reduction.
This comes as the First Minister said at the end of January that “no GP will lose funding as a result of the new contract.”
The Scottish Conservatives Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport Miles Briggs has written to the First Minister to clarify this position in light of the concerns raised by the Rural GP Association of Scotland.
Donald Cameron MSP said: “The new GP contract is yet another example of why this SNP Government is so out of touch with rural Scotland.
“The fact that one practice on the islands is set to lose more than half of its funding, should send shockwaves to SNP politicians.
“This will undoubtedly have a detrimental effect on patient care across the islands,
and it will not help the current struggle facing the SNP-
“We all want to support our GPs wherever they may be but the new contract must not pit urban and rural GPs against each other, because at the end of it all, it is the patient that suffers.”
Slashed funding for Western Isles GPs
19 February 2018