We’ve looked at GP closures over the last 11 years to show the locations most impacted in Tayside and Fife.
The data shows a long-term decline in GP services, with fewer doctors and GP practices looking after a growing number of patients.
Many of these GP closures are a result of the ongoing national GP crisis and associated recruitment issues. Ryehill Medical Practice, which closed in Dundee last year, was among those citing an inability to recruit partners to run the practice as a reason for closure.
GP closures by area
There are 13 (10%) fewer GP practices open in Tayside and Fife than there were in 2012, with the total number falling from 127 in 2012, to 114 in 2022.
Dundee lost three of its practices overall, down from 24 to 21. Fife lost six of its practices, from 59 in 2012 down to 53 in 2022.
Perth and Kinross has lost three GP practices, with 24 open in 2022, down from 27 in 2012.
Angus has one fewer GP practice than it did in 2012.
Throughout Scotland as a whole, there was a 9% reduction from 997 GP practices open in 2012 to 911 in 2022.
The map below shows the locations where practices have closed since 2015 in Tayside and Fife. Click on icons to view practice details and years of closure.
This map was created using quarterly snapshots of GP Practices and list sizes published by Public Health Scotland (PHS) from January 2015 to January 2023.
Some GPs have multiple branches which they provide services across, rather than having a single location. The details published by PHS are for GP practices across Scotland, not broken down by individual branches. As a result, while the data source is comprehensive for main practices, some branches of those may not be covered on the map.
Addresses were located for the map electronically and some have been corrected manually if they are located at the same address and conceal another practice. If there’s any we have missed or you spot any errors, let us know at datateam@dctmedia.co.uk.
NHS Tayside announced that the latest victim of the crisis, Invergowrie Medical Practice, will be shut in June, leaving nearly 2,000 patients up for relocation to alternative practices. Wallacetown Health Centre in Dundee is also closing soon.
The Wallacetown Health Centre is one of Dundee’s busiest practices and its closure will leave more than 9,000 patients up for relocation. It follows the closure of Ryehill Medical practice last year and will be the second closure in the Stobswell area of Dundee following Stobswell Medical Centre’s closure in 2018.
Patients will be relocated as the trend toward fewer, larger GP practices continues, with patients travelling further to reach services.
Patient numbers are increasing but the number of full time GPs is not keeping pace
From 2012 to 2022, the number of patients registered in Scotland has increased by 6%, with almost 350,000 added to the list.
In response to growing patient numbers, the Scottish Government set a target as part of the 2018 General Medical Services contract to recruit 800 additional general practitioners by 2027.
In the five years since, an additional 291 GPs have been recruited, short of the 400 that would be needed at the half way mark in order to meet the target.
And even though the overall number of GPs has slowly increased, survey data indicates that the number of full time equivalent employees has decreased.
The latest General Workforce Practice Survey, which takes into account WTE (whole time equivalent) positions filled shows a reduction in WTE GP numbers in 2022 compared to 2019.
In response to the survey, Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland Joint Chair Dr Chris Williams said: “Missing data and attempts to use scaling factors unfortunately mean that the utility of the numbers within this report are limited. We need reliable measurements, not estimates that are based upon on returns from a little over half of Scotland’s GP practices.
“It is, however, extremely worrying to see the drop in Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) estimate of GPs. The fall from an estimated 3,613 WTE GPs in 2019 to 3,494 in 2022 is a decrease of 3%- a reduction which cannot match the rise in workload in general practice. Our GP workforce urgently needs further investment.”
Fife practices have been especially hard hit according to the survey, reporting the second lowest number of full time employees per patient in Scotland.
Academy Medical Centre in Forfar is one of the most overstretched GPs in Scotland
With 9,290 patients registered and only two GPs, Academy Medical Centre is the eighth most overstretched GP practice out of the 897 Scottish practices which published workforce data in January.
This puts them at a ratio of 4,645 patients per GP. The average list size per GP nationally based on this data is less than a quarter of this, at 1,113 patients per GP.
Among these worst affected locally are Valleyfield Practice and Kinghorn Medical practice in south Fife, which were taken over by NHS Fife and Fife Health and Social Care Partnership last year when the GP partners became unable to deliver contracted general medical services.
NHS Fife has been seeking a contractor to take over Kinghorn Medical Practice, Valleyfield Practice and the Links Practice in Burntisland and successful bids are set to be announced in Spring.
Conversation