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FIFE LOCAL MEDICAL COMMITTEE LIMITED

Why are your GP practices now unable to do everything they once were?

 General Practice across the Country has been struggling for years.  However it has now reached a critical situation with less money, less doctors and less staff to meet the growing needs of the Scottish population. So how did we get here?

In 2017, the Scottish Government recognised this and promised to introduce a new Contract, starting in 2018 and to be fully implemented within 3 years. At the time, the then Health Secretary Shona Robison MSP said “We equally recognised the fundamental challenges faced by general practice, not least growing workload and increasing risk”.

Unfortunately, for the first time in the history of the NHS, large parts of this contract have not been implemented. Even worse, when Health Boards haven’t been able to spend the money that they were given to employ additional pharmacists and other professionals to support General Practice, the money has had to be returned to Scottish Government rather than being able to be spent supporting your local practice.

Scottish Government promised transitional payments to Practices to recognise the non-delivery of this contract, but then withdrew that funding, even after some practices had already used the money for additional cover.

There have been many further challenges both local and National since then.  Many Practices in Fife are facing increasing bills for their building costs such as mortgages, rent payments and utility bills. Without any additional funding coming into practices, their financial situations will deteriorate and it’s likely this will lead to reduced staffing, with fewer appointments and longer waits to be seen.

All Practices in Fife are impacted by Scottish Government not funding an increase in compulsory pension contributions. This is only occurring in General Practice in Scotland; the English and Welsh Governments have already committed to paying this, and there is funding in place for all staff in hospitals. Therefore, these payments come out of the funding available to Practices to pay for administrative staff, nurses and doctors.

Many people don’t know that the funding for Practices comes through a National formula and doesn’t reflect how many times patients are seen. Practices are paid the same whether you are seen once or a hundred times per year. In 2017, the Scottish Government recognised that it wasn’t sufficient and promised to move towards a new funding model. This still hasn’t happened, and the funding uplifts have been substantially below inflation since then.

The average patient used to contact their Practice 3-4 times per year. This has increased to 6-7. The reasons for this are multiple and include an increasing elderly population, more people with illness (often multiple) and more available treatment options. The large growth in waiting lists has also had a big impact, with GP appointments being taken up with ongoing management whilst awaiting hospital investigations and procedures.

GPs are in demand. There are many roles and jobs that require the skills of a GP, so the GP that you see in your practice will likely be working “full time” hours across fewer, longer days with other days spent in these other roles or undertaking caring responsibilities for their families.

Part of the funding which comes from Government every year is earmarked for non-GP staff pay rises e.g. receptionists, nursing staff, practice managers. This has always matched what was given to staff working elsewhere in the NHS. For the first time last year, the Scottish Government decided to break this link, meaning practices had to fund the shortfall or risk losing staff.

The number of GPs in Scotland is falling. As part of the 2017 contract the Scottish Government promised that numbers would rise by 800, however when doctors in training are excluded from the figures, the numbers are actually reducing! Since 2013, the GP WTE (whole time equivalent) workforce has fallen by 5.35% - a fall of 196.7 whole time equivalent GPs. In that same time period, the number of practices has fallen by 9%, average practice list sizes have increased by 18% and the total patient population has increased by 7%. 42% of practices in Scotland report at least one GP vacancy. The number of GP partners has reduced by 14% between 2012 and 2022. In the last 20 years the ratio of GPs to hospital consultants has halved, despite many things which used to be done in hospital now commonly being done in practice, and this reflects the falling share of the NHS budget spent in General Practice.

In many areas, Practice buildings are too small and are outdated. Unfortunately, Scottish Government has now cancelled all funding for new builds, leaving many working out of buildings no longer fit for purpose. Scottish Government has also withdrawn sustainability loans, a scheme to reduce the risk for GPs who own their building. This leads to financial loss which again impacts on the services they can deliver.

With less staff and more work, better IT would help improve efficiency. Our IT is cumbersome and unreliable which often impacts on the care of our patients, increasing inefficiency and damaging staff morale. We are the only country in Britain still using paper prescriptions - this alone costs a huge amount of clinical, administrative and patient time.

In order to make systems better we need time to learn and develop. We used to receive regular half days to work with our teams on making practices better for everyone. The support for this was withdrawn by NHS24 and Scottish Government have done very little to reintroduce any form of reliable support, although our local health board have tried to reintroduce this recently.

 Incredibly, despite all that we have just described, your Practice remains absolutely committed to provide the best service that it can.

However, if you’re not satisfied with the service you receive, look beyond the Practice and instead hold those with the power to improve matters to account. Scottish Government needs to do more to directly support General Practice, the bedrock of the NHS.  Please contact your MSP.  Their contact details can be found at Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) | Scottish Parliament Website

Fife LMC

June 2024

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Welcome to St Brycedale Surgery


With patients' needs at the heart of everything we do, our website has been designed to make it easy for you to gain instant access to the information you need. As well as specific practice details such as opening hours and how to register, you’ll find a wealth of useful pages covering a wide range of health issues along with links to other relevant medical organisations.

The practice has been located in these purpose-built premises in Kirkcaldy town centre since 1993. Prior to this it was based in a converted house nearby in Townsend Place having been located there for around 100 years.

The previous partners were Dr Senga Greig and Dr Jack McEwen and prior to this (pre 1945) Dr Greig’s father ran a single handed practice from the premises.

We still have some patient records dating from before the start of the NHS and in particular the old Obstetric records are very interesting.

The practice was initially built to serve approximately 3000+ patients, we now have over 7600+ patients registered in 2024. 



Access & Parking


As well as a designated disabled parking bay, the surgery has been designed to allow disabled access,   including the provision of a disabled toilet. Should you require assistance please speak to a receptionist.

Many of our patients drive here to attend their appointments, and as only limited parking space is available we would be grateful if you could please remove your car when you leave the surgery.


Text System for Emergency Help

If you should need to contact the emergency services but you are unable to use the phone due to a speech and/or hearing impairment then don't worry, there is a text system you can use! It connects to the following emergency services:

  • Ambulance Service
  • Police
  • Fire Service
  • Coastguard

Please click on this link and follow the instructions on how to register.

Get Well, Keep Well

Of course we’re not just here for when you are unwell. Our team of healthcare professionals and back-up staff offer a number of clinics and services to promote good health and wellbeing whatever your medical condition.

Join In

We hope you enjoy having a look around the site and familiarising yourself with some of the online features such as ordering a repeat prescription. Comments and suggestions are always a great way of helping us continue to enhance the way we look after you and to improve the service we provide.

***IMPORTANT MESSAGE REGARDING PRESCRIPTIONS ***

Due to delays and medication shortages at the pharmacies please allow 1 week for regular prescriptions from the point of ordering to collection at the pharmacy.   Allow a full 48 hours for items on your repeat slip and 72 hours for acute items that are not on your repeat slip at the GP practice.  (Please note we are closed Sat/Sun/Public Holidays so these do not count).  Even though the script will go to the pharmacy after 48/72 hours you will then need to allow 2-3 days at the pharmacy, to allow for ordering stock as they are currently having issues with stock delay from suppliers, either as a result of stock supply issues, or staff shortages/absence at the warehouses.  

Please note:

St Brycedale Surgery from 1pm - 6pm on a Thursday, will now be running a limited service only.

You will not be able to collect prescription at that time and any routine enquiries will not be dealt with until we reopen the following day.

CLICK LINK BELOW TO ACCESS RIGHT CARE RIGHT PLACE VIDEO

https://youtu.be/g1R0SvhOOFA

CLICK LINK BELOW TO TAKE YOU TO NHS INFORM INFORMATION:

https://www.nhsinform.scot/right-care

BE DISTANCE AWARE

Be Distance Aware A new initiative has launched in Scotland to encourage people to respect the space of others when they’re out and about. The Distance Aware scheme offers everyone who would feel more comfortable when they have more room, the chance to wear an easily recognisable symbol to show others they need space and care. The polite prompt is designed to support those who are worried about being in public places, for whatever reason, and help them feel more confident when going about their daily life. Free lanyards and badges featuring the Distance Aware shield are available from libraries across the country, with badges also free to pick up in ASDA stores or online from participating charities, free or for a small donation. We can all play our part as we adapt to living with COVID-19. To find out more, visit www.gov.scot/distanceaware

 

 “Why Understanding Pain really matters”  

Flippin’ PainTM Online Webinar Series 

https://www.flippinpain.co.uk/event/scotland-22/

https://www.nhsaaa.net/pain-management-service/

 


(Site updated 08/07/2024)
For appointments and prescriptions please use the Online Services link above. Alternatively, just click here.
 
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