Aberdeenshire MSP Gillian Martin asks for help on GP recruitment
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Aberdeenshire East MSP Gillian Martin has raised her concern over the limited number of GPs in Aberdeenshire and challenges with recruiting GPs to the region.
During portfolio questions at the Scottish Parliament, Ms Martin asked how the Scottish Government is assisting GP practices in Aberdeenshire to fill vacant GP and health practitioner posts.
She said: “The situation in my constituency is becoming critical with Fyvie Oldmedrum practice down to two part-time GPs and getting no applications for repeated GP posts advertisements over the last couple of years.
"Mintlaw practice has had to be taken back under control of NHS Grampian, with Central Buchan behind it.
"Has the government considered developing new inventive schemes that can incentivise those who have left General Practice to return, and incentivise new graduates to base themselves in rural areas like mine?”
In response the Cabinet Secretary for health and social care Humza Yousaf said: “We do offer a wide range of initiatives, specifically to attract practitioners to rural areas like Aberdeenshire, which includes golden hellos and bursaries for newly qualified GPs to take up posts in hard to fill rural locations.
"I would add that our new Scotgem graduate entry medicine program focussing on general practice with rural working has proven popular - the first cohort of 44 students graduated earlier this year from Dundee and St Andrews universities.
“The Scotgem program is still in its early days but I have no doubt at all that the Scotgem program will make a big and significant difference to the vacancies that exist in remote rural and island communities.
Commenting, Gillian Martin said: “As an MSP who represents a rural constituency I know that recruiting GPs to work in rural practices can be a real challenge, therefore I strongly support measures such as bursaries for newly qualified GPs to go into rural working.
“The north east of Scotland has a lot to offer as a place to live and work and the Scotgem program is very promising in terms of boosting GP recruitment, as I’m sure that trainees who are given a chance to study here will be encouraged to go into rural practice.”
