GP practices in Scotland to receive extra £15m investment
GP practices in Scotland will receive an extra £15m investment this year, the Scottish Government has announced.
The funding, which is in addition to the £46m investment via the 2025/26 contract, will ‘support capacity and ensure GPs and services in the community have the resources they need’, according to the health secretary.
But GP leaders warned it will not reverse issues of underinvestment in general practice and GP unemployment.
The Government said the funding ‘comes after discussions with the sector’, but both the BMA’s Scottish GP Committee (SGPC) and Government told Pulse this was unrelated to ongoing contract negotiations between the two parties.
In June, the BMA’s Scottish GP Committee (SGPC) began a ‘formal dispute’ with the Government, citing ‘years of disinvestment in general practice’ with financial cuts opposed to uplifts to GP partners’ pay.
It said £290m of extra funding – around 1% of the NHS budget in Scotland – was required to deliver full funding restoration.
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care Neil Gray said: ‘This initial instalment demonstrates this Government’s commitment to supporting primary care and alleviating current pressures on the system.
‘We want to make it easier for people to see their GP and to achieve this we are working towards ensuring a greater proportion of new NHS funding goes to primary and community care.
‘We have already increased investment in general practice by over £100m in the last two years to meet recommended pay increases and to support practices with sustainability.’
Dr Patricia Moultrie, medical director of Glasgow LMC and former deputy chair of the SGPC, told Pulse the £290m figure would be the minimum required ‘to even stabilise’ general practice.
She said additional funding would then be required beyond that to ‘capitalise on the potential of general practice and what it could really deliver’.
‘This is a tiny amount, and hopefully the Government will not overplay what they think that this will do’, Dr Moultrie said.
‘We would be very concerned if any messaging came out from the Government to suggest that this was sufficient to increase GP capacity and GP access.
‘It could be a sign of good intent from the Scottish Government while the SGPC negotiations continue but it is absolutely not touching the surface of a solution.’
Pay ‘erosion’ against inflation since 2008 has created a 22.8% funding shortfall in general practice, according to the SGPC.
In Scotland, there is currently one GP for every 1,735 patients, compared to one per 1,515 patients in 2013, according to the union’s figures.
SGPC chair Dr Iain Morrison said the investment was a ‘positive move’ but urged the Government to invest more to bridge the funding gap in general practice.
He said: ‘We welcome this immediate investment to help alleviate some of the recruitment and retention issues plaguing GP practices and harming patients’ access to healthcare.
‘Our negotiations continue with a view to stabilising and then improving GP services across the nation. General Practice in Scotland has seen funding erosion and cost pressures generate a funding gap of £290m, which we must see restored.
‘It is only by closing this substantial gap that patients will see long term, sustainable improvements in access to GPs and the care we are able to provide to them.
‘On that basis, we urge the Scottish Government to build on this and come forward with a substantial offer of new long-term funding that will put General Practice in Scotland on a more sustainable footing.’
RCGP Scotland also welcomed the investment but said it ‘will not transform general practice or undo years of underinvestment’ on its own.
RCGP Scotland chair Dr Chris Provan said: ‘GPs and their teams strive to deliver a high quality of care, but they are increasingly struggling to meet the demand from a growing population with more complex needs – all while the GP workforce continues to shrink.’
Earlier this year, an independent watchdog found the Government had failed to deliver on several of its 2018 commitments to support GP practices.
Audit Scotland said the proportion of NHS spending on general practice dropped from 7% to 6.5% between 2017/18 and 2023/24, while direct spending on GP practices decreased in real terms by 6% between 2021/22 and 2023/24.
The 2018 GMS contract was the first time a Scotland-specific contract had been negotiated with the BMA, and it set out plans to bolster GP sustainability, address recruitment challenges, and free up GP time.
The Scottish Government responded to the watchdog’s report, noting ‘many of its recommendations are already in progress’.
