Meeting of the Parliament 23 February 2016
I had thought that more GPs would be a good thing that members of all parties would welcome.
Our calculations, which are based on the published GP spending outturn figures—the actual spend—show that GP spend as a percentage of the total health budget has remained relatively stable in cash and real terms over the past decade.
Richard Simpson said that it sounded as though I was saying that there are no challenges. Of course there are challenges: that is why we are in the midst of negotiations with the British Medical Association about a new contract that will deliver a new model of primary care for Scotland, along the lines of multidisciplinary teams, with the GP as the clinical expert. The discussions are going very well and are very positive. On the subject of positive discussions, I met the RCGP on 9 February, when we had a positive meeting about the new model of care and how we will work together on taking forward the new model.
On the principles of the new contract, Richard Simpson will appreciate that we are in the midst of negotiations about the contract. I am happy to keep Parliament informed of progress in the negotiations, but the member will appreciate that the negotiations are on-going and that it would be premature to give further information when there is not enough information with which to update Parliament. When there is, I will be happy to do so.