Question reference: S5W-00458
- Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 6 June 2016
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Current status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 June 2016
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many full-time GPs there have been in each of the last three years, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
The Primary Care Workforce Survey Scotland 2015, published 14 June 2016, shows that the estimated whole time equivalent number of GPs was 3,645 in 2015.
The Primary Care Workforce Survey does not collect data annually, however the table below shows GP headcount figures in each of the last three years, broken down by NHS board (data are as at 30 September 2015):
| Board/Year | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
| Ayrshire and Arran | 329 | 335 | 331 |
| Borders | 118 | 120 | 117 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 152 | 148 | 138 |
| Fife | 277 | 275 | 269 |
| Forth Valley | 270 | 268 | 265 |
| Grampian | 549 | 565 | 561 |
| Greater Glasgow and Clyde | 1,070 | 1,077 | 1,055 |
| Highland | 393 | 393 | 391 |
| Lanarkshire | 406 | 412 | 462 |
| Lothian | 851 | 852 | 891 |
| Orkney | 29 | 26 | 31 |
| Shetland | 26 | 28 | 31 |
| Tayside | 378 | 394 | 372 |
| Western Isles | 38 | 34 | 31 |
| Scotland | 4,881 | 4,921 | 4,938 |
Data source: General Practitioner Contractor Database, Information Services Division, NHS National Services Scotland, published in December 2015. http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/General-Practice/Publications/data-tables.asp
Please note that GPs may hold multiple posts simultaneously and therefore the Scotland total may not equal the sum of the different types of GP post or the sum of the headcount in the different boards.