Patients in Scotland will no longer see their family doctor for routine matters under a shake-up of the country’s GP services. According to a Daily Express report, other health professionals will assume responsibility for vaccinations, drug monitoring, repeat prescriptions, routine diabetes checks and blood tests, under a new contract for the country’s 5,000 GPs to be unveiled next month.
The report says hundreds of extra staff will need to be recruited to take over the work, which is still expected to be provided from surgeries.
Dr Alan McDevitt, who is leading talks with the Scottish government on behalf of GPs, said soaring workloads meant his members “can’t keep spinning the same plates”. However, Margaret Watt, of the Scotland Patients Association, said the answer was simply more GPs, given that more than one-in-four Scottish practices were currently trying to fill a vacancy……more
