Chamber and committees

Numbers of vacancies for GP posts are not held centrally as this is a matter for individual independent GP contractors as employers. However, as part of the move towards better quality, more regular, and more consistent information, a workforce survey was published on 14 June 2016.One in five (22%) responding GP practices reported current GP vacancies at 31 August 2015. This is an increase from 9% of practices reporting current vacancies in 2013. In 2015, half of the vacancies reported had been vacant for over 6 months.In Scotland we are transforming primary care, supported by £85 million of extra investment to put in place long-term, sustainable change within GP services that can better meet changing needs and demands. We have also pledged to increase GP training places for medical students from 300 to 400 a year and are expanding schemes to encourage trained GPs to return to practice in the NHS. We are working closely with the British Medical Association (BMA) and the Royal College of GPs to reduce workload, including our pioneering agreement to abolish the bureaucratic system of GP payments, and work towards a new Scottish GP contract from 2017. A £20 million package to support GPs will also help ease pressures on workload in the short term, and contribute to putting general practice on a more long-term sustainable footing.

The number of GPs in Scotland has increased by 7% under this Government, and we want to go further to boost GP numbers as part of a building a strong, multi-disciplinary Community Health Service. In Scotland we are transforming primary care, supported by £85 million of extra investment to put in place long-term, sustainable change within GP services that can better meet changing needs and demands. As part of this, over £2 million is being invested in work to explore with key stakeholders the issues surrounding GP recruitment and retention. We have pledged to increase GP training places for medical students from 300 to 400 a year and are expanding schemes to encourage trained GPs to return to practice in the NHS. We are working closely with the British Medical Association (BMA) and the Royal College of GPs to reduce workload, including our pioneering agreement to abolish the bureaucratic system of GP payments, and work towards a brand new Scottish GP contract from 2017. A £20 million package to support GPs will also help ease pressures on workload in the short term, and contribute to putting general practice on a more long-term sustainable footing.

In Scotland we are transforming primary care, supported by £85 million of extra investment to put in place long-term, sustainable change within GP services that can better meet changing needs and demands. We have also pledged to increase GP training places for medical students from 300 to 400 a year and are expanding schemes to encourage trained GPs to return to practice in the NHS. We are working closely with the British Medical Association (BMA) and the Royal College of GPs to reduce workload, including our pioneering agreement to abolish the bureaucratic system of GP payments, and work towards a new Scottish GP contract from 2017. A £20 million package to support GPs will also help ease pressures on workload in the short term, and contribute to putting general practice on a more long-term sustainable footing.

While the Scottish Government has no current intention to develop a national dementia-prevention plan, it retains a concerted national focus on promoting good public health and helping to reduce the risk ill-health and illness (including dementia) in key areas such as smoking cessation, alcohol reduction, improved dietary choices and increasing exercise.

The Scottish Government endorsed the Blackfriars Consensus Statement and its focus on continuing collaborative effort on addressing potential dementia risk and protective factors at an individual and population level.

We also recognise the complexity in identifying connections between lifestyle factors and those risk and protective factors, not least because of the increasing understanding among researchers, clinicians and others about the number of dementias and differentiation between those dementias.

The Clinical and Care Governance Framework for integrated Health and Social Care Services in Scotland provides the ranges of professionals and staff involved in the planning and delivery of integrated health and social care services with clear governance arrangements which identifies their roles, responsibilities, actions and accountabilities. In addition one of the frameworks central principles places an emphasis on empowering people to use their experiences to shape, monitor and improve the safety and quality of their care.

The Scottish Government plans to issue the strategic commissioning guidance on palliative and end of life care this winter.

The National Implementation Advisory Group met for the first time on 3 June. At this meeting they identified subject matter experts to lead on each of the commitments outlined in the Strategic Framework.

The Scottish Government is supporting the development of locally owned improvement and implementation plans through the commissioning of additional improvement support, support for a new educational framework, and guidance for developing plans that take account of local needs.

The Scottish Government plans to issue the first annual learning and improvement report into palliative and end of life care in spring 2017.