By John Lamont MP
GP surgeries are the frontline of our NHS.
People rely heavily on the wide-ranging expertise of GPs to guide them towards the right healthcare option.
They are often at the heart of local communities, especially in smaller towns, villages and more rural areas.
In the Borders, the loss of fantastic GPs and even entire practices has been incredibly difficult for many residents, especially older and more vulnerable people.
Across Scotland, between 2012 and 2022, we lost 10 per cent of GP surgeries. In the Borders, we can all point to local examples where a GP surgery has closed, is no longer accepting new patients, or where the staff are overworked and struggling to cope with demand.
The lack of access to GPs and the difficulty obtaining appointments puts additional strain on the rest of our NHS. Problems that could be dealt with early at a GP surgery end up becoming trickier to treat.
I recently wrote to the First Minister Humza Yousaf to raise this issue, again, and to appeal for extra funding for NHS Borders, which has been engulfed by a financial crisis which will impact the services they provide.
The SNP really need to step in with extra funding urgently - but they also need to make healthcare services fit for the future.
The Scottish Conservatives recently published our own vision for a modern, efficient and local NHS.
Our new policy paper set out plans to recruit more GPs and guarantee appointments with a family doctor within a week.
We would achieve this by increasing the portion of NHS funding given to GP services. We would increase funding and invest 12 per cent of the NHS budget into GP clinics, allowing them to open new facilities, recruit more staff and make more appointments available, particularly in rural areas.
Our plans would reduce waiting times and help the NHS get back on its feet after 16 years of SNP rule and the damage done by the Covid pandemic.
I hope the SNP Government at Holyrood, which has sole responsibility for Scotland's NHS, will take these proposals seriously.
Until now, there seems to have been a real lack of focus from the Scottish Government on the issues at NHS Borders and the problems that rural health boards face recruiting NHS staff, particularly GPs.
That must change. Local people need a guarantee that they will be able to get an in-person GP appointment when they need it.
