New campaign to recruit GPs

The initiative includes targeted print and digital advertising and is part of the Scottish Government’s plans to increase the number of GPs by 800 by 2027.

Scotland’s GP headcount already increased by 277 from 4,918 to 5,195 between September 2017 and September last year. This year so far has also been the most successful of the last five where trainee recruitment, with 99% of GP training posts having been filled.

The new campaign aims to attract still more GPs to Scotland from other areas of the UK and elsewhere. It builds on a range of measures which also include increasing undergraduate placements, looking at training placements to boost future capacity, incentivising moves to rural practice and providing a wide range of development and support opportunities for GPs throughout their careers.

The campaign, launched on 29th June, is supported by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and features two GPs who relocated from London.

Mr Dey said: “I am very pleased to see the launch of a new recruitment campaign to attract more GPs to Scotland.

“While this builds on significant progress already made by the Scottish Government in recent years, I know from unfortunate developments with practices in Angus that we are still very much in need of more GPs – particularly in rural areas.

“GP surgeries, which played such a vital role through the pandemic, continue to be extremely busy – and the Scottish Government’s focus now is on working with GPs to build a sustainable service for the future.

“This recruitment campaign will help communicate how Scotland has a great deal to offer GPs, both in terms of job satisfaction and lifestyle, and I hope to see the results paying off here in Angus in the near future.”

Through the GP reform work, and the Scottish Government’s 2018 Contract, more than 3220 healthcare professionals have been recruited into multi-disciplinary teams to support practices. This aims to deliver the full range of services and ensure patients see the right person at the right time.