Warning Brexit could hit GP numbers

Scotland could lose one in 25 family doctors as a result of Brexit, GPs have claimed.

The Royal College of General Practitioners in Scotland said that 226 GPs north of the border took their primary degree from a European Economic Area country, and it warned that the possible loss of those doctors from Scotland could have implications for patient safety.

The body argued that the GP workforce is already stretched, as it called for guarantees that healthcare workers from the EU who are already working in Scotland will be able to stay.

The issue is is highlighted in the RCGP Scotland manifesto, which sets out its priorities for political parties ahead of next month's general election.

RCGP Scotland chair Dr Miles Mack said: "There is already a projected deficit of 828 whole-time equivalent GPs in Scotland, by 2021.

"Promoting core values, our manifesto for the coming General Election, calls for governments to facilitate the delivery of sufficient numbers of GPs to overcome it.

"To learn that Scotland could face the loss of an additional 4% of its already stretched GP workforce is extremely worrying. It is one in 25 of Scotland's GPs. It could negatively affect over 226,000 patients in Scotland.

"We are calling for Government to safeguard the GP workforce during international negotiations by guaranteeing the status of healthcare professionals already working in Scotland and the UK.''

Figures released last June showed that numbers of whole time equivalent GPs had fallen by 90, or 2.4%, since 2013, he said.

We are now faced with a possible removal of a further 226 GPs who, as nationals of other EU member states, might be lost to the workforce if their status is not protected,'' Dr Mack went on.

"Again, we must call for immediate action to prevent that clear harm to the health service.''

Dr Mack added that surveys have shown a "considerable percentage'' of GPs in Scotland plan to leave the service soon as a result of overwork and underfunding.

"An enormous and urgent effort is required in Scotland to save general practice,'' he said.

Scottish Labour's health spokesman Anas Sarwar MSP echoed calls for guarantees that those from the EU who are already working here can stay. But he said the GP crisis'' began before Brexit.

After a decade of SNP mismanagement, we have a workforce crisis in our NHS,'' he said.

A hard Tory Brexit will not help, but four times as many doctors and nurses come from other parts of the UK to work in Scotland's NHS compared to those that come from the rest of the EU.''

Health Secretary Shona Robison said: "The uncertainty surrounding the UK's withdrawal from the EU presents us with many challenges for planning the future NHS and social care workforce.

"The contribution of EU and EEA nationals to our NHS cannot be overestimated. Doctors, nurses and care workers from across Europe help to staff our GP surgeries, our hospitals and our care homes.

"In the Scottish Government we've made clear our view that, as a priority, their right to live and work in this country must be protected, as well as our ability to attract their successors in years to come.''

UK Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said that one of the top priorities for the government at Westminster, as part of the Brexit negotiations, is to secure the rights of doctors trained overseas to continue to live and work in the UK.

He told the House of Commons Health Committee earlier this year: "We have huge respect and admiration for their contribution, which we hope will continue.''

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