Question reference: S4W-25258
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for Argyll and Bute, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 2 April 2015
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Current status: Answered by Shona Robison on 28 April 2015
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many GPs in rural practices in (a) Scotland and (b) NHS Highland offer out-of-hours cover and what proportion that is of all GPs in that area.
Answer
The delivery of GP services during the out-of-hours period is the responsibility of health boards in accordance with National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) (Scotland) Regulations 2004.
Scotland’s 14 health boards report having a total of 4704 GPs practicing in Scotland today. The number of practices classified as rural within this figure is unknown from current information available.
NHS Highland reports having a total of 343 GPs, with 27 providing out-of-hours cover. This includes eight GP practices remaining opted-in providing out-of-hours cover from Monday to Thursday and the board covering weekends and public holidays.