For years, our NHS has been mired in what feels like a never-ending state of crisis under the current Scottish Government.
The SNP’s running of public services in Scotland has been consistently abysmal and the NHS has suffered greatly as a result of the devolved administration’s incompetence.
Worrying developments include one in six Scots finding themselves stuck on an NHS waiting list, diagnoses of early-stage cancer falling to their lowest levels in a decade and nearly 2,000 cases of bed blocking where patients are well enough to leave hospital but they have not been discharged.
The SNP has not achieved it’s target for 95 percent of patients to receive care at A&E within a four-hour period of arriving at hospital since July 2020 and the Scottish Ambulance Service is failing to meet the average target response time in every category.
General Practice is another area to have suffered during the SNP’s time in government and this is highlighted by a recent report published by Audit Scotland – an independent body that produces financial and performance audits on public service organisations.
In it’s report, Audit Scotland set out that the financial contributions to General Practice as a proportion of the overall NHS budget has gone down over previous years.
Indeed, the analysis showed from 2021/22 to 2023/24 that there was a six percent funding decline in real terms and this has placed even greater strain on already pressed GP surgeries.
On the whole, the recent publication from Audit Scotland can only be described as a damning assessment of the SNP’s performance on General Practice and the public body offered the conclusion that the Scottish Government, “has failed to deliver on several of its commitments.”
Audit Scotland highlighted that the pressures on doctors surgeries have risen, the estimated number of whole-time equivalent GP’s is in decline and patients are reporting greater challenges when it comes to accessing care.
Clearly, it is vital for patients to be able to make a prompt appointment with their doctor when experiencing a health problem and that they are not forced to endure a long wait before a medical consultation can take place.
In the Newton Mearns locality of Eastwood, some local residents have experienced challenges in recent years when it comes to accessing primary care services.
The difficulties stem from significant new housebuilding but without any equivalent increase to GP capacity and to successfully meet the additional healthcare demands arising from a growing local population.
Given this background, I was dismayed to learn in February that the Greenlaw Medical Practice in Newton Mearns is to close and I made my frustration at this situation known to the most senior officials in the East Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership and the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board.
I did receive a written commitment from the Health and Social Care Partnership that the delivery of a new community health centre in Newton Mearns is a priority.
However, a note of caution was added in that there is currently no funding available to establish the proposed healthcare facility.
In the current climate, the loss of a GP practice in Newton Mearns is really not acceptable and the delivery of a new doctors surgery should be viewed as a critical local healthcare issue.
