Dumbarton, Vale of Leven and Clydebank Health Centres.
By Bill Heaney
The SNP is on course to fail yet another promise made to Scottish voters as unions warned the pledge to recruit 800 more GPs by 2027 is “at best a distant prospect”. It comes amid repeated warnings over the crisis in primary care.
On Tuesday, the NHS published its annual GP workforce statistics, showing a decrease of 40 family doctors between 2022 and 2023, from 4,514 to 4,474. This figure has remained steady over the past 10 years.
However, the ‘whole-time equivalent’ figures – which take into account the number of GPs who have gone part-time – show a startling decline. They have plummeted by 197 since 2013 – despite the number of registered patients in Scotland soaring by over 390,000 in the same time.
Health Secretary Michael Matheson, left, said the SNP administration remained fully committed to the 2027 target. And he claimed the “head count of GPs is now sitting consistently at over 5,000” – although that includes specialist trainees who are excluded from the NHS figures.
Responding to new NHS workforce figures for general practice which show that the number of fully qualified GPs working in Scotland has declined for the second year in a row – they have fallen from 4,514 in 2022 to 4,474 in 2023 – 
Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP, right, said: “The rumbling workforce crisis in general practice has been sharpened by years of cuts and mismanagement under successive SNP governments.
“GPs have some of the highest levels of burnout in the health service, so in many ways these shortages are unsurprising. They can only be pushed so far.
“It is high time that the Health Secretary completely overhauls his predecessor’s failed recovery plan and replaces it with one that has recruitment and retention at its core.
“Scottish Liberal Democrats would increase the number of training places for GPs, introduce an urgent plan to tackle burnout and launch a staff assembly that values their expertise.”
Dr Andrew Buist, chair of the BMA’s Scottish GP committee said that the figures should be a, “massive wake up call” for the Scottish Government.
He also noted that: “We are often told GPs are the bedrock of the NHS- but on this evidence the bedrock is crumbling, and it is patients seeking access to their GP who will suffer as that becomes more and more difficult.”
Scottish Labour too has warned the SNP is on track to break its promise on GP numbers as patient lists soar.
Over the last 10 years the Whole Time Equivalent number of GPs has plummeted by 197 – despite the number of registered patients in Scotland soaring by over 390,000 in the same time.
This means the average patient list per GP has increased by almost 200 in this time.
In 2017 the SNP pledged to deliver 800 more GPs by 2027, but they are failing to deliver on that promise so far.
The number of GPs in Scotland broadly flat-lined between 2022 and 2023, rising by just 0.4 per cent as a result of additional trainees.
Scottish Labour Health spokesperson Jackie Baillie, left, said “GPs are the front door to our healthcare system, but they are at breaking point.
“Patient numbers have soared while GP numbers collapse, leaving services over-stretched and patients unable to get help.
The SNP promised to deliver 800 more GPs but at this rate they will fail miserably.
“We need action now to support Primary Care in Scotland so people can get the medical care they need.”
| Year | Total patient list | WTE GPs | Patients per WTE GP |
| 2023 | 5,961,443 | 3,478 | 1,714 |
| 2013 | 5,568,304 | 3,675 | 1,515 |
- The GP Headcount (excluding Specialist Trainees) decreased from 4,514 in 2022 to 4,474 in 2023.
- GP whole time equivalent (excluding Specialist Trainees) decreased from 3,493.9 in 2022 to 3,478.4 in 2023.