BMA’s anger at tactics to get GPs to extend hours

New cash for nursing support ‘could be better spent and will add to resentment’

By Tim Pauling

Published:

Doctors’ leaders are angry at tactics being employed by the Scottish Government to get GP surgeries to extend opening hours.

It follows an announcement that up to £2.65million is to be made available to GP practices to employ nursing support during evenings and at weekends.

The money is being made available to those GP practices that have agreed to longer hours.

But the British Medical Association Scotland said the arrangement had not been agreed with them.

The BMA claims the announcement will just add to the resentment over the way the government had sought to force extended hours on GPs and that the money could be better spent.

Ministers want GP practices to offer late-night or weekend appointments for those who cannot attend during the day.

The government was negotiating with doctors when it decided to end talks and impose the final offer solution chosen by Westminster.

Public Health Minister Shona Robison claimed to be working with doctors to provide more flexibility for appointments.

“We know GPs don't work in isolation and nurses are a critical part of the care that practices provide,” she said. “Since April, GP practices have been able to apply for extra funding to extend their opening hours to weekday evenings, early mornings or Saturday mornings.

“This extra £2.65million funding will further enhance this by investing in vital nursing support during those hours.”

Dr Dean Marshall, chairman of the BMA’s Scottish GP committee, said the money could be better spent on “more pressing” health priorities. “This arrangement has not been agreed with Scotland’s GPs who employ practice nurses,” he said.

“GPs have already expressed anger at how the Scottish Government has sought to implement extended hours and this arrangement for practice nurses will fuel that anger further.”

Dr Marshall said many of their staff work in general practice because of the family friendly hours and it is unlikely that practice nurses will be inclined to work evenings and weekends.

The BMA said patients were being misled into believing they will get the same services available in normal working hours.

Dr Marshall added: “We still maintain that if the Scottish Government had negotiated an arrangement for improved access for patients, we could have created a more flexible approach to delivering extended hours – that had the backing of GPs rather than this piecemeal approach that few GPs to date have signed up to.”

Lib Dem health spokesman Ross Finnie called on the government to start fresh negotiations with the BMA.

“The original plans did not guarantee that a patient making an appointment during extended hours would receive the same level of care as those in normal hours,” he said.

“The initiative announced today only serves to highlight how little thought went into the initial proposals on the part of the government.”

A government spokesman said it was “extremely encouraging” that 45% of practices had signed up or had begun the process of signing up, for extended opening.