Patient safety at risk from GP burnout, warns doctor

Patient safety is being put at risk by "doctor burnout" caused by GPs being under-funded and overworked, a leading medic has said.

Dr Sigi Joseph said doctors have to "continually soak up" more work while cross-covering shifts for each other, causing exhaustion.

She told BBC Scotland's The Sunday Show the situation had been urgent for the past five years and more funding was required.

The Scottish health secretary Neil Gray told the same programme it would be a "challenge" for the government to reach its target of increasing GPs by 800 by 2027.

Dr Joseph - an award-winning GP who has trained over 1,300 GPs during a career spanning more than 20 years - warned doctors in the middle of their careers were particularly affected.

She said: "Doctor burnout is a well recognised issue and I think in general practice, particularly mid-career doctors, are continuously having to soak up more and more work, longer hours at work, (and are) unable to take a break.

"Colleagues in other surgeries have cross-covered each other for many weeks and months. That leads to exhausted doctors which, more importantly, is a risk to patient safety."

Dr Joseph explained large bills and financial uncertainty for surgeries mean many practices cannot afford a locum to provide cover.

She added the GP's job was now "very challenging" due to an aging population, rising health inequality and a decline in the amount of funding allocated from the government budget, which had dropped from 11% in 2021 to 6%.

A number of GPs trained in Scotland were now choosing to leave the country to find work elsewhere, due to financial issues and to avoid having such a heavy workload, Dr Joseph said.

Dr Joseph's comments came days after an Audit Scotland report stated the Scottish government had "failed to deliver" on a number of targets to improve GP care in the country.

The report found there are 67 fewer whole-time equivalent GPs in Scotland now compared to 2017, despite a further 1,800 people qualifying as GPs by 2023.

The decrease in numbers was due to more doctors choosing to work part-time, while the document stated it was "unlikely" the Scottish government's previous commitment of adding 800 more GPs by 2027 would be met.

Health Secretary Neil Gray told the Sunday Show: " I recognise that it is a challenge but we have increased [numbers] by 300 already and we've got a record number of GPs in training, over 1,200.

"I want to make sure we attract and retain staff. We are seeking to publish later this year a plan to reform primary care in its entirely, because we recognise general practice is central to the health service but we want to make pharmacy, community optometry and various other elements are supported."

He added funding had "substantially increased" in recent years for GP care, with the most recent investment being £1.3bn.

Gray also disputed the Audit Scotland report, citing the overall headcount of GPs going up - although not for full-time doctors.

The health minister said the UK government's recent decision to increase National Insurance contributions for employers would create an "uncertain" financial picture in the future, and that surgeries should be exempt from the rise.

Jackie Ballie accused the SNP of breaking promises on health

Scottish Labour's health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said GPs had been let down by broken SNP promises.

She said: "At the start of devolution, GPs got 11% of the health budget. It's now down at 6%.

"We all see the evidence of it with the 8am rush for a phone call and it's sometimes days or weeks before you can get an appointment.

"GPs are exhausted. They've got fewer in number than they were promised. And actually since the government made the promise, the numbers have dropped."

She added GPs needed to be "adequately resourced" and claimed the SNP were "out of ideas".

The Scottish Conservatives' health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane MSP said the GP "crisis" was "simply the latest scandal to invalidate Neil Gray and his tenure years as health secretary".

He added: "Neil Gray along with the rest of his SNP colleagues urgently need to show some common sense and ensure the money in the health budget prioritises getting patients to see their GP, rather than squandering it on pointless bureaucracy within the health service."