Dumbarton, Clydebank and the Vale of Leven Health Centres.
By Bill Heaney
GP surgeries are “falling apart”, Scottish Labour has warned as it reveals a soaring maintenance backlog.
The current maintenance backlog in GP surgeries has hit an eye-watering £78.5 million.
This sky-high figure only includes buildings owned or leased by Health Boards and not those owned by individual GP practices, meaning the true scale of the problem is even greater.
Among boards which provided comparable historic data, the costs soared by a third between 2020/21 and 2022/23.
Labour warned that this backlog was a sign of the pressure General Practice in Scotland is under as a result of SNP neglect.
Commenting, Scottish Labour Health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said “After years of neglect GP services are at breaking point – and now even the buildings are falling apart.
“The sorry state of these crumbling buildings is a symbol of the damage the SNP has inflicted on General Practice.
“This spiralling backlog needs urgent action so patients and staff can count on safe, modern surgeries.”
| Health Board* | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | % change 20/21 to 22/23 |
| NHS Ayrshire & Arran** | £ 8,920,387.39 | £ 9,883,854.90 | £ 13,170,550.70 | 47.6% |
| NHS Borders | £ 832,117.68 | £ 1,118,361.64 | £ 1,853,198.52 | 122.7% |
| NHS Dumfries and Galloway | Data not provided | |||
| NHS Fife | £ 2,519,531.85 | £ 2,551,923.85 | £ 2,555,093.85 | 1.4% |
| NHS Forth Valley | £ 4,170,232.98 | £ 4,146,935.17 | £ 6,456,234.92 | 54.8% |
| NHS Grampian | £ 10,292,031.00 | £ 10,727,330.00 | £ 11,511,498.00 | 11.8% |
| NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde | Not held | £ 17,000,059.10 | £ 17,841,498.93 | N/A |
| NHS Highland | Not held | Not held | £ 947,955.89 | N/A |
| NHS Lanarkshire | £ 7,932,980.00 | N/A | ||
| NHS Lothian | Not provided | Not provided | £ 10,340,000.00 | N/A |
| NHS Orkney | N/H | £ 222,017.02 | £ 233,305.57 | N/A |
| NHS Shetland | £ 517,653.48 | Not held | £ 596,798.61 | 15.3% |
| NHS Tayside | Not held | Not held | £ 3,998,435.00 | N/A |
| NHS Western Isles | £ 1,014,978.00 | £ 1,044,070.00 | £ 1,085,803.00 | 7.0% |
| TOTAL | £ 28,266,932.38 | £ 46,694,551.68 | £ 78,523,352.99 | 177.8% |
Source: FOI
*Please note: some Health Boards state that they do not carry out surveys each year and therefore cannot provide an annual updated figure. Most Health Boards only hold data on GP surgery buildings that they either own or lease. Data on buildings owned by GP practices is not included.
** NHS Ayrshire and Arran have included a proportional percentage of backlog maintenance costs where GP services are delivered within wider NHS operational sites (such as community hospitals).