To ask the Deputy First Minister how the Scottish Government will prevent further GP practice closures, in light of reports that the number of surgeries has declined in every NHS board since 2015. (S6F-03209)

General practitioners are essential to the delivery of high-quality, sustainable general practice service, and we remain fully committed to increasing the number of GPs in Scotland by 800 by 2027. To support general practice, we have significantly expanded the primary care multidisciplinary team workforce, with more than 4,700 staff now working in such services. We are supporting the development of those teams through investment of about £190 million in the primary care improvement fund. The latest data from Public Health Scotland reflects a trend towards fewer but larger practices that incorporate multidisciplinary teams so as to provide a wider range of services.

The Scottish Government has said that it is led by evidence. The evidence is that GP surgeries in rural Scotland are closing at more than twice the rate of those in many central belt health boards. In NHS Grampian, GPs have been damning in their assessment of primary care under the Scottish Government. Here are just some recent quotes from GPs to their representative body in that area. One practice said:

“We had to switch off our phones yesterday for the first time, as we have reached our safe limit ... we felt we had no option. Feels unmanageable just now.”

Another said:

“The current situation cannot continue; staff are completely exhausted, and morale is very low.”

Another GP said:

“There has to be an easier way to make a living than this!”

I see that the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care is talking to the Deputy First Minister and giving her feedback. I am glad of that, because we cannot afford to lose more surgeries. GPs and patients across rural communities are watching and listening today.

Can we have a question, please, Ms White?

What answer can the Deputy First Minister give them now? They are at breaking point.

The question that Tess White asked is important. I understand in detail the challenges that our rural GPs face, but it is precisely because of the challenges in recruitment that we have invested in the pioneering Scottish graduate entry medicine programme. The first cohort is coming through ScotGEM just now.

We recognise that there are distinct challenges when it comes to rural and island areas, which is reflected in the budget that has been committed: £3 million for the national centre for remote and rural health and care, which was launched in October and is being delivered by NHS Education for Scotland. Tess White will also know that we incentivise GPs to take up rural positions through the £10,000 golden hello scheme, and are also investing £1 million in bursaries for GP trainees.

There is agreement on the pressures facing our rural GPs. The point is that we are taking action right now to try to support our rural GPs as far as possible because we recognise their importance.

The Tories have presided over the closure of 450 surgeries, more than 1,000 pharmacies—a third of the total—longer waiting lists and strikes by junior doctors and nurses, with 40 promised new hospitals unbuilt over the past decade in England.

Does the Deputy First Minister agree that the evidence is clear that Scotland’s NHS, with all its challenges, is in better shape for staff and patients under the Scottish National Party than it ever would be under the Tories?

Kenny Gibson is right to talk about the wider context, because the situation that the Scottish NHS faces has to be seen in the wider context of the challenges around visas and austerity. Despite that, we are delivering more than £19.5 billion of funding for health and social care to give our NHS a real-terms uplift and support significant investment on the front line.

We are committed to the founding principles of the NHS, unlike some other parties in here, and we also want to mitigate austerity.

I was contacted this week by Prestonpans Group Practice, the GP surgery in Prestonpans, East Lothian, which has concerns about funding, staffing and patient care. It faces a withdrawal of funding of 10 per cent from cuts to the East Lothian health and social care partnership, as well as increased estate fees. That will have an impact on patients.

Will the Deputy First Minister, or the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, meet me to discuss the concerns that were raised by that group and the Lothian Local Medical Committee and, indeed, how we can improve the situation across the south of Scotland?

I have no hesitation in agreeing for the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care to meet Martin Whitfield and his constituents.