A major review of out-of-hours primary care will be outlined at Ninewells Hospital today.
The review comes more than a decade after the 2004 UK GP contract, which transferred responsibility for delivery of out-of-hours primary care services to the management of health boards.
It will address issues such as recruitment and retention of GPs, staff availability, especially during peak holiday times, consistency of service and the public’s expectations of the service.
The service provided in evenings and at weekends will also be looked at.
As well as GP surgeries, primary care covers pharmacists, optometrists and dentists, nurses, health visitors, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, and dieticians and podiatrists.
Health Secretary Shona Robison will announce the review, to be led by Sir Lewis Ritchie, at the Ninewells A&E department.
She said: “Out-of-hours services are a crucial component of this and it is now more than 10 years since the current system was created.
“Our NHS is facing different challenges from a decade ago and we need to ensure all parts of the system work as effectively as possible to support an ageing population and more people with more complex, multiple conditions.
“That is why the time is right to review these services to ensure they continue to deliver sustainable, high quality, safe and effective care.”
For more on this story, see Saturday’s Courier.