{"id":384314,"date":"2026-01-22T14:37:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T14:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/384314\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T14:37:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T14:37:09","slug":"why-cant-i-get-an-appointment-with-my-gp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/384314\/","title":{"rendered":"Why can\u2019t I get an appointment with my GP?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The difficulty with getting a GP appointment \u2013\u00a0the 8am scramble to get through to the surgery, and the long waiting time on hold only to discover the appointments are fully booked \u2013\u00a0has become a universal conversation topic on par with bad weather. Sometimes it\u2019s just downright frustrating but the consequences can be profoundly serious<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The problems are not just anecdotal \u2013\u00a0Scotland-wide surveys have shown in recent years an increasing number of people find it hard to get hold of their doctor.<\/p>\n

The pressing need to address the problem was raised several times in last week\u2019s budge<\/a>t, with Shona Robison, Scottish cabinet secretary for finance, claiming that reducing waiting times was a key target of additional spending. She claimed a \u201cbigger share of the health budget\u201d was this year going to primary care, with extra millions put aside for investment in more GPs and better funding other costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Scottish Government said it was committed to \u201cending the 8am rush\u201d and also put aside \u00a336m to begin the rollout of new High Street \u201cwalk-in GP clinics\u201d. But will these developments help? And why is it so difficult to get an appointment with a GP? <\/p>\n

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Staffing<\/p>\n

The most straight-foward answer lies in the data. The actual number of GPs \u2013 the so-called headcount number \u2013\u00a0was 4,582 as of last March 2025<\/a>, excluding trainees. But this is the equivalent of just 3,592 full-time positions<\/a>. That\u2019s because of the proportion of GPs who work part-time, sometimes due to parenting and other caring responsibilities. <\/p>\n

That number is a slight increase on the previous year. But the general trend<\/a> has seen GP full-time equivalent numbers decreasing. Ten years ago Scotland had slightly more GPs than now with 3,604 full time equivalents seeing patients. <\/p>\n

In the same time frame patient lists have been growing. Scotland\u2019s population has increased as a result of migration<\/a>. Though life expectancy stalled during Covid, general trends show that people in Scotland are also living longer<\/a>. In total the number of people registered with GPs has increased eight per cent<\/a> between 2015 and 2025.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The net result is there are fewer GPs in Scotland per person than there were five or ten years ago. While in 2015 there were 1,562 patients per GP on average, in 2025 there was just one GP for every 1,685 patients. <\/p>\n

Within these averages there are winners and losers. Regional data<\/a> shows that in NHS Lanarkshire practices there was an average of 2,381 patients for every whole time equivalent GP in 2024, making it statistically far more difficult to get an appointment there than national averages suggest. In some Lanarkshire practices<\/a> those patient-per-GP numbers are even higher, sometimes significantly, though the use of locums \u2013\u00a0temporary GPs \u2013 and other healthcare staff makes it difficult to give accurate comparative numbers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the other end of the scale \u2013 and the country \u2013 NHS Orkney was able to provide a GP for every 662 patients<\/a>. Again, variation will be seen in individual practices on the islands.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The British Medical Association (BMA) claims Scotland would see dramatic improvements in health and wellbeing if there was one GP for every 1,000 patients<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Growing patient lists and unsafe working: patients and doctors speak out from the front lines of primary care<\/p>\n

Amid rising concerns over heavy patient lists and unsafe work conditions in primary care, patients and doctors share their experiences of a system under strain. Liz, who lives in the north west Highlands, knows she is lucky. When she found a lump in her breast last year, she called the<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Increasing complexity\u00a0<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just a numbers game. As Dr Iain Morrison, chair of BMA Scotland\u2019s GP Committee, explains, Scotland\u2019s population now also requires more complex care.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs people live longer they have more complex conditions,\u201d he says, and many of them have more than one issue at the same time, known in medical terms as comorbidities. On top of that \u201cthere are more treatment options and the growth in the associated healthcare required is exponential\u201d. In other words we now have fewer GPs \u2013\u00a0but more patients with more complicated healthcare needs and more treatments available.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In total there are now 1,186,099 registered patients in Scotland who are over 65, almost 20 percent of the total number<\/a>. That percentage has been rising steadily for more than a decade. In many practices, more than a third of patients are in this age bracket. <\/p>\n

Deepening poverty<\/a> in Scotland is another factor. A clear link has been established between shorter health lifespans \u2013\u00a0that\u2019s the number of years you live without health problems \u2013 and living in poverty. <\/p>\n

Patients then experience this as \u2018I can\u2019t get an appointment\u2019, even though practices are working flat out.<\/p>\n

According to David Blane, from the Deep End GPs network<\/a> \u2013\u00a0which is made up of 100 practices in the most deprived areas of Scotland \u2013 this means that in areas of high deprivation there are often more complex consultations which take in various physical and mental health conditions as well as trauma and social problems. <\/p>\n

A vicious cycle is created, with complicated problems requiring longer consultations, which leads to fewer appointments and results in more unmet need. \u201cPatients then experience this as \u2018I can\u2019t get an appointment\u2019, even though practices are working flat out,\u201d he says. \u201cSo, pressure isn\u2019t just about volume.\u201d He claims it is also about “complexity, intensity, and moral strain”, that’s the psychological distress felt with your core beliefs don\u2019t chime with your actions \u2013 in this case wanting to provide good care but not having time to. \u201cGPs are constantly balancing high clinical risk with limited time, which is exhausting and contributes to burnout and workforce loss,\u201d he adds. <\/p>\n

Supporting other health conditions\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to the BMA\u2019s Dr Morrison there\u2019s also higher demand because of better understanding about a range of physical and mental health issues. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are now new areas of medicine that drive further demand,\u201d he says. \u201cHRT consultations [for women experiencing menopausal symptoms] have exploded in the last five years, for example. That\u2019s not to say the need wasn\u2019t there before that but there is now a greater awareness. That has benefited women but those appointments are coming from the existing resource.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the most recent Scottish Health Surve<\/a>y, about six in ten of those who had experienced any menopause or perimenopause symptoms had sought help, most commonly from their GP. However 15 per cent of patients said they had not done so because \u201cthey did not want to burden the NHS,\u201d suggesting an even greater need.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Consultations about neurodiversity are another area of exponential growth, according to Dr Morrison. Drugs<\/a> used to treat ADHD, such as Ritalin, were prescribed to 25,904 people in 2022\/23 but that increased by about a third to 34,440 in 2024\/25. \u201cAgain, this has to be managed by GPs without additional funding,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

How practices are run\u00a0<\/p>\n

The number of GP practices in Scotland has decreased by almost 9 per cent from 969 GP practices in April 2016 to 887 in April 2025, reflecting a trend towards fewer, larger practices overall.<\/p>\n

This means that you are more likely to be in a practice with several GPs, lowering your chance of getting the same one every time. The importance of consistency is highlighted in patient satisfaction surveys<\/a> and evidence<\/a> also shows that GP relationship continuity \u2013\u00a0seeing the same GP every time \u2013 improves access to appointments and helps address health inequalities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

GPs practices, which operate as independent businesses contracted and funded by NHS health boards, are all managed differently with varying stipulations about how far ahead it is possible to book, or how urgent appointments are allocated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some practices offer phone appointments as standard in the first instance, following up with in-person appointments as necessary and others allow patients to specify which they prefer. According to the most recently available statistics from 2023\/24 only 62 per cent of appointments were face-to-face, with the level of phone appointments dramatically higher than pre-pandemic. Some research<\/a> has suggested that while phone appointments can be convenient, they have poorer outcomes and create more admin work for GPs. <\/p>\n

Some GP practices have also made greater use of multi-disciplinary teams<\/a>, sometimes using less qualified \u2013\u00a0and less expensive \u2013 healthcare professionals, like physician associates<\/a>, who are supervised by GPs, to meet growing demand. But while additional roles can add value, using these instead of hiring additional GPs is not recommended by the BMA.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What about the funding?<\/p>\n

In December the BMA and the Scottish Government agreed a package of funding<\/a> between 2026 and 2029 that will give general practice an annual increase of \u00a3250m by 2028\/29. Dr Morrison says this will help to \u201cstabilise the situation\u201d and is a very welcome \u201cfirst step\u201d. However he insists it is nowhere near enough to bring about the reform needed. The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Scotland chair Dr Chris Provan also welcomed the funding, but has agreed<\/a> with his assessment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The funding deal will see the NHS budget allocated to GPs rise from approximately 6 to 7 per cent, but a decade ago that figure was 11 per cent<\/a>. The BMA estimates that about \u00a31bn would be required in order for Scotland to provide one GP per 1,000 patients. <\/p>\n

Both organisations are sceptical of Scottish Government plans for 15 walk-in GP clinics across Scotland, the first of which, it was announced last week, will be at the Wester Hailes Healthy Living Centre<\/a>. The scheme, and a \u00a336m funding package to pay for it, was announced in the Scottish budget<\/a> and will offer over a million GP and nurse appointments, about 0.3 percent of the Scottish total. Concerns have been raised that it will funnel money away from the core system.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr Blane of the Deep End also claims the new funding package is \u201cinsufficient to address healthcare inequalities\u201d and will not \u201cfundamentally correct the current mismatch between need and resources\u201d. He says funding should be better weighted in favour of practices with the biggest workloads.<\/p>\n

Is there another way? <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to deliver a lot more care in the community,\u201d according to Dr Morrison who believes that with the right kind of reforms in place, a far better system is possible. In the BMA\u2019s vision, GPs, assisted by the access to knowledge that AI provides, could be more involved in outpatient care for the increasing number of people with more than one health complaint. \u201cInstead of seeing a whole range of specialists who are not able to look at people\u2019s conditions holistically, GPs could be managing their care and the logistics of that for them, making sure patients get the care they need,\u201d he explains. \u201cThat will take substantial commitment to change and resources to match.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

That would lead to better and more holistic care, cut down on waiting times and free up GPs who currently have to offer care while people wait. <\/p>\n

He admits it\u2019s a culture shift. \u201cAt the moment practices are stuck with 10 minute appointments, squeezing home visits into lunch breaks,\u201d he says. \u201cHospitals are at capacity and that is not going to change. We are still talking about A&E as the front door of the NHS but instead we need to start talking about health care starting at the patient\u2019s own front door and work from there.\u201d He points to examples in Nordic countries such as Sweden, which has put a firm focus on primary health care<\/a>, supported through what would once have been known as cottage hospitals, allowing aging populations to access quality healthcare in their own communities. <\/p>\n

As for poorer communities Dr Blane claims that the need to frontload resources into deprived areas is paramount, with targeted recruitment in these most challenging practices along with mentoring and support to prevent burn-out. Critically, he claims we need to stop treating the problem of getting GP appointments as \u201ca simple numbers and speed problem\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He adds: \u201cGood access also depends on consultation quality \u2013 seeing a GP who knows you well improves your experience, your safety, your quality of care, your health outcomes.\u201d GPs need to have time to deal with complex issues and to be able to offer \u201cinclusive, flexible, person-centred\u201d care. He insists: \u201cWithout addressing those, appointment shortages will persist, particularly in the communities that need care most.\u201d<\/p>\n

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