Question reference: S6W-23394
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 29 November 2023
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Current status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 11 December 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has chosen headcount as opposed to whole-time equivalent in relation to its commitment to increasing the number of GPs in Scotland to 800 by 2026.
Answer
The Scottish Government measures progress against the commitment to increase GP numbers using headcount data as this provides an accurate number of GPs registered on the Performers List in Scotland at the time the data is collected. Currently whole-time equivalent data is calculated as an estimate, based on returns from General Practices through the General Practice Workforce Survey.
The latest publication can be found here: General practice workforce survey 2022 - General practice workforce survey - Publications - Public Health Scotland
The Scottish Government uses both headcount and whole-time equivalent data to inform workforce planning to increase GP capacity.