Current status: Answered by Shona Robison on 15 March 2017
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in filling vacant GP posts in Dumfries and Galloway and other rural areas.
On Friday, I was invited to address the British Medical Association’s Scottish Local Medical Committee Conference in Clydebank. I was delighted to be able to announce that, next year, an additional £71.6 million will be invested in direct support of general practice, helping transform the way services are delivered in the community.
As part of this, I have increased the size of the GP recruitment and retention fund five-fold, to £5 million. This will help to fund GP bursaries and expand a scheme to encourage retired GPs to return to practice.
GP recruitment and retention in rural areas such as Dumfries and Galloway has some particular challenges. This funding will also continue to support the work of the Scottish Rural Medicine Collaborative. This project, run jointly by NHS Dumfries and Galloway and nine other health boards, is bringing together recruitment strategies and support networks for GPs working in remote and rural areas.