December 11th 2024

By Ailsa Colquhoun

Scottish GPs warn of unsustainable workforce pressures

Scottish GP leaders have warned of unsustainable pressures facing Scottish GPs following the publication of the General Practice Workforce Survey 2024

In a statement, RCGP Scotland Chair Dr Chris Provan said that decreasing numbers of whole-time equivalent GPs and increasing sickness absence represented “a failure to stabilise the GP workforce”. He added: ”On the frontline in GP practices, it means challenging workload levels all year round, but particularly during winter. Action is needed now to ensure we have sufficient GPs to service our patients’ needs.“

Headline results from the NHS Scotland research include the following:

• GP whole time equivalent (WTE) (excluding Specialist Trainees) continued to decrease, from 3,478.4 in 2023 to 3,453.1 WTE in 2024, a decrease of 0.7 per cent.
• The number of GP sessions lost to sickness absence was around 5,500 (15 per cent) higher than in 2022/23.  
• The GP vacancy rate has decreased  three percentage points to 7.6 per cent.