Local MSP Craig Hoy has used a contribution in the Scottish Parliament to warn that East Lothian GP services are at imminent risk as a result of a cash crisis facing NHS Lothian.
Following the announcement of the Scottish Government’s Budget, NHS Lothian has warned that it must dramatically review service provision and funding models to plug a £120 million black hole in its finances.
As a result, local GP surgeries are facing significant increases in what are known as “facilities management charges”.
In Tranent, local GPs are warning they face a fee increase of 600% and in Gullane doctors are warning that the rise in fees risks the future of the practice.
Speaking in the Scottish Parliament, Craig Hoy warned that “NHS Lothian faces a £120 million black hole” and was looking to increase charges and cut back on services to plug the funding gap.
Mr Hoy told MSPs that Dr Jo Smail, a GP at Tranent Medical Practice, had used a letter to NHS Lothian, copied to local elected representatives, to warn that “in order to cover this new cost imposed on us, the practice would potentially have to lose about 3,200 GP appointments per year”.
This, she said, will impact patient care and add to pressure on the GPs who are already burnt-out as a result of pressures throughout the NHS.
The warning came after Dr Smail and fellow GPs at the surgery used the letter to warn “we would no longer be able to provide Primary Care services for our patients and would have no other option but to hand back our contract”.
After addressing MSPs, Craig Hoy said: “The SNP Government must act urgently avert the catastrophic cash crisis it has created across NHS Lothian. I will continue to speak up for local GP services, which are now at severe risk as consequence of the financial pressures imposed on NHS Lothian by the Scottish Government.”
“It would be totally wrong for patient care in areas such as Tranent and Gullane to suffer as a result of the Government’s misplaced priorities, which include a proposal to spend upwards of £2 billion on the creation of a bureaucratic and centralised National Care Service.”
“Money should instead be focused on the frontline, including into the primary care services delivered by hardworking GPs across East Lothian. We should be raising the funding to Primary Care, not undermining it with increased costs which will only lead to greater pressure on already over-stretched GPs.”
