29-01-18 Carradale Surgery News
Important information please read.
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Challenging Times for Rural Healthcare - Implications for Carradale Surgery Patients
Dr Elder on behalf of the Carradale Patient Group will present the possible implications of the new GP contract for Carradale Surgery at the East Kintyre Community Council meeting on THURSDAY, 1 FEBRUARY 2018 at 7pm. A meeting will also be arranged in Skipness for patients in the Skipness area.
You may be aware that the BMA and Scottish Government have recently agreed the terms of a new GP contract due to start in April this year. Dr Elder has been concerned with the lack of public consultation, in fact the contract had been kept under wraps even from the profession until the last moment. As proposed this contract has significant issues for rural residents in Scotland and is a major reshaping of primary healthcare.
The new funding is almost entirely heading to the central belt (see this map of winners and losers - http://ruralgp.com/2017/12/mapping-out-the-proposed-scottish-gpcontract-allocation-formula/ ) as no allowances have been made of the additional costs of delivering to rural areas.
The Rural GPs Association of Scotland published a response to the contract giving more details of the issues: - http://ruralgp.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Looking-at-the-right-map.pdf .
There is also significant changes away from an expectation to see a GP as the first point of contact and away from the practice being the default place of delivery of much routine care. There are concerns that this will lead to it being increasingly difficult to travel to the new providers which may well be centralised.
Alliance Scotland has been tasked with this last-minute patient consultation (it is due to come into force on April 1st) and have organised meetings as follows. https://www.alliance-scotland.org.uk/blog/events/gp-engagement/ As the meetings are unfortunately a long distance from Carradale, the Carradale Surgery Patient Group very much wish to liaise with Alliance Scotland and are looking to set up a meeting in Carradale to allow the local voice be heard.
The Rural GP Association of Scotland will continue to highlight rural concerns and offer alternative solutions to build on the positives in the contract.
Please click below for some key links to give your further details on the new GP contract:
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