South Scotland MSP Craig Hoy has paved the way for a key meeting with the Scottish Government to discuss a looming cash crisis that will affect patient care in East Lothian.
Craig has been approached by numerous GP practices in East Lothian following the news that Facilities Management fees imposed by NHS Lothian could rise by up to seven times more than the surgeries are already paying.
Now, Scottish Health Secretary Neil Gray has written to Craig and agreed for his officials to meet with local GP representatives to discuss the mounting problem.
At First Ministers Questions on April 18, Craig asked Humza Yousaf about the closure of local care beds in North Berwick and Dunbar and warned of proposed crippling increases to facilities management fees for GPs across East Lothian.
Craig says: “Local GP practices have warned there has been no clear explanation for how the massive increase in management fees emerged. The concern is that GPs are now being forced to pay these enormous costs to compensate for NHS Lothian's wider financial problems, which are caused by the SNP Government. This would clearly not be a fair or sustainable long-term strategy.”
One local GP warned Craig that the increase in costs would mean they would no longer be able to replace a GP partner who is due to retire; while the Tranent practice said that they would no longer be able to replace a doctor, resulting in a loss of 3,500 appointments per year.
Prior to this exchange with the First Minister, Mr Hoy wrote to Calum Campbell, Chief Executive of NHS Lothian, and Neil Gray, Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health, and Social Care to call for action.
In response, Mr Gray agreed to establish a meeting with representatives but said the issue was ultimately one for Health Boards to resolve. But he conceded that the Scottish Government expects NHS boards to have a fair and equitable system of facilities management costs for all GP practices in health centres.
During his exchange with the First Minister, Craig also warned of the impact of the planned closure of the Edington hospital’s inpatient services, the closure of the Abbey Care home in North Berwick and the planned closure of the Belhaven Hospital’s beds in Dunbar.
Speaking in the Scottish Parliament, he told Mr Yousaf: “As a result of a Scottish National Party cash crisis, NHS Lothian announced the permanent closure of beds at the Edington hospital, the Abbey care home in North Berwick and the Belhaven hospital in Dunbar. Meanwhile, local primary care providers have announced that they are facing massive increases in NHS Lothian’s facilities management fees, with Tranent facing the loss of 3,500 general practitioner appointments as a result. Before the First Minister blames someone or something else, will he finally take responsibility for the crisis that he and his Government have created in Scotland’s NHS.”
