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.

MP in call to end “untenable” GP waiting times

Post Thumbnail

Angus MP Kirstene Hair has asked health chiefs to broker a solution to an “untenable” system for arranging GP appointments.

Patients who attend Brechin Health Centre have been seen on a triage basis since the practice started running with fewer GPs a number of years ago.

Weekday patients are asked to call at 8am to book a slot, once emergency appointments have been made.

This can result in them being told to call back the following day.

Ms Hair has now asked the new chief executive of NHS Tayside, Grant Archibald, to intervene and prevent people from having to ring an “extraordinary” number of times.

In her letter to Mr Archibald,  Ms Hair describes the situation facing residents as “untenable”.

She said: “Last year I was told the practice is back to full strength in terms of GPs, but this arrangement persists.

Angus MP Kirstene Hair

“I understand that staff are doing their best to accommodate as many patients as possible.

“However, I believe the local health board should be aware there are fundamental issues with the current appointment system.

“And I don’t think this is an issue which is unique in any way to Brechin.”

A spokesperson for NHS Tayside acknowledged it could be frustrating for patients trying to get an appointment at the practice, but added: “Over the past four years, NHS Tayside has made a number of improvements to Brechin Health Centre including a new telecommunication system, which has significantly increased the call capacity in the practice.

“Clinical staffing has also increased significantly and this has supported additional appointment capacity.

“The practice team has worked hard to continue to review the appointment system to ensure they are supporting access to a wide range of services for the patient population.

“A significant proportion of issues can be dealt with by telephone and those who do require to be seen same day will be seen.”

The spokesperson said pre-bookable appointments were available for non-urgent matters and were available to book a minimum of four weeks in advance.

Health secretary Jeane Freeman.

Responding to the concerns, Scottish Health Secretary Jeane Freeman MSP highlighted that GP numbers in Angus had increased by more than 11% since 2016.

She said: “We are investing a further £7.5 million in Scotland in 2018/19 in GP recruitment and retention.

“By 2020/21 we will have increased medical schools places by 22%, equivalent to an extra 190 places.”

Patients registered with Brechin Health Centre who have concerns or feedback regarding their care are encouraged to discuss then directly with the practice or via feedback.tayside@nhs.net or 0800 027 5507.