Renfrewshire Liberal Democrats criticise SNP over GP closures

Scottish Liberal Democrat Candidate for Paisley & Renfrewshire South, Jack Clark has today criticised the Scottish Government over the closure of GP practices.

Figures from the British Medical Association show that:

• The number of GP practices providing services to patients in Scotland has reduced over the last decade. The number in Greater Glasgow & Clyde has gone from 247 to 230, a reduction of 7%.
• The number of patients per GP in the area has also gone up from 1,547 to 1,783, an increase of 15%.
• Across Scotland, 79 practices, or almost 10% of the total have formally closed their list to new patients. That’s up from just 19 practices in 2018.

In February, Scottish Liberal Democrats put forward a motion in the Scottish Parliament calling on the government to rewrite the failed NHS Recovery Plan to get recruitment and retention of staff back on track and build stronger local health services by expanding the range of services and specialists available, including in fields such as mental health and physiotherapy. The SNP Government blocked it.

The party also revealed that as many as one in five Scots say their mental health had been impacted by long GP and hospital waits.

Jack Clark said:

“The Scottish Government is driving local health services into the ground.

“Hundreds of thousands of Scots are finding it near-impossible to see their GP and waiting months for hospital treatment.

“Increasing numbers of GP practices are being forced to close their patient lists because they do not have sufficient resources to meet their patient needs.

“This is one of the biggest issues that comes up on doorsteps across the country and Scottish Liberal Democrats have a plan. We want to see more specialists in areas such as mental health and physiotherapy and swift access to care close to home.”