Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

GP shortage crisis: Community concern as Kinghorn surgery is latest hit across Tayside and Fife

Several communities across Courier country are affected. Image: Shutterstock.
Several communities across Courier country are affected. Image: Shutterstock.

A Fife medical practice is the latest to be hit by a national shortage of GPs.

Kinghorn Medical Practice is being affected by the crisis with only locum GPs available.

Clare Llewellyn, who lives in the village, says she was told there’s now only appointments for emergencies and is calling for action.

The Royal Burgh of Kinghorn Community Council is also raising concerns of residents.

We asked NHS Fife what’s being done to address it.

Kinghorn Medical Practice.
Kinghorn Medical Practice.

Kinghorn is the latest community to report issues in recent weeks and months.

Where else has a shortage of GPs?

A shortage of GPs is affecting practices across Tayside and Fife.

In the past few months these include:

  • Valleyfield Health Centre where patients raised concerns of a GP shortage
  • Friockheim Health Centre in Angus – where patients were told they will be transferred to a new doctor after the practice closure was confirmed in May
  • Ryehill GP surgery in Dundee, with patients to be assigned a new doctor from July.
Local councillor Graeme Downie.
Local councillor Graeme Downie.

And more recently, Graeme Downie, councillor for West Fife and Coastal Villages told us he feels using locums isn’t enough to bridge gaps.

What is the Kinghorn community saying?

Clare Llewellyn says she phoned to make an appointment at the end of May.

She was told locum GPs at the surgery were only dealing with emergency appointments.

She adds: “It’s been the same since.

“I wrote to my MSP at the start of June and he said he’d raise it but still nothing, we’re in the same position.

“You can’t even phone up and ask for an appointment in a few weeks – if it’s not an emergency you’ve not been able to be seen for two months now.

Locum GPs are only covering emergencies at Kinghorn despite the shortage.

“Many people aren’t going to the doctor with things that could be fairly serious.

“When’s it going to end? It’s been such a long time since we’ve had a permanent doctor.

“This is a community and we need this fixed.

“This is at a higher level now and someone needs to step in, it’s not sustainable.”

Community council has concerns

And the Royal Burgh of Kinghorn Community Council confirm they’ve been in touch with the health board.

The Community Council has pressed NHS Fife for answers.

Roger Diggins from the Community Council says: “We have been in touch with NHS Fife with our concerns.

“We’ve received a detailed response of the challenges they face and how they are looking to resolve the issues.

“Two of their executives will be coming to our October meeting.”

‘Challenging circumstances’

The Community Council also paid tribute to staff at the practice.

“We’re expressing support for the management and staff of Kinghorn Medical Practice.

“They’re doing their utmost to provide the best service they can in very challenging circumstances.”

What does NHS Fife say?

NHS Fife and the Fife Health and Social Care Partnership took over the running of Kinghorn Medical Practice in April 2021.

Associate Medical Director for the Fife Health and Social Care Partnership, Dr Helen Hellewell, explains this problem isn’t unique to Kinghorn or Fife at the moment.

The shortage of GPs in Kinghorn is also a national issue.

“Across the UK, there is a very significant shortage of GPs at present.

“There are currently far more vacancies than available GPs to fill these positions.

“This shortage is affecting Kinghorn Medical Practice along with a number of others in Fife.”

What’s in place for Kinghorn?

To help address the issue in the short term, a multi-disciplinary team of healthcare professionals are working to support locum medical staff.

This team includes:

  • Physiotherapists
  • Mental health nurses
  • Pharmacist
  • Advanced nurse practitioners.

“These clinicians are highly trained, experienced healthcare professionals,” Dr Hellewell adds.

“They will provide patients with a very high standard of care while we work to develop more permanent and longer-term solutions to improve GP cover.”

Conversation