Out of hours services in Glasgow and Clyde have had to shut down services at short notice over the holidays due to a shortage of GPs.
NHS Glasgow has been forced to centralise services, use more nurse practitioners and enhance pay rates in an attempt to cope with the shortage of GPs and keep services open.
NHS Glasgow told Pulse that during the holiday period in particular, it was difficult to ‘fully staff’ its primary care emergency centres,
An NHS Glasgow spokesperson said: ‘Despite the assistance we get from GPs, including the support of many who come in at short notice, we have had to make short notice closures of centres when we do not have GP cover. The GP out-of-hours service remains under pressure to staff all GP rotas.’
Full story in Pulse 8th August 2016