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 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.
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.
“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.
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.
“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