Recruit more GPs to end 8am rush

Frontline work of local surgeries the solution to a wider NHS crisis

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AS chair of the Royal College of GPs in Scotland, I hear and share people's frustration when it comes to problems accessing appointments with their GP.

Patients are right to expect timely, high-quality care. And that is what GPs wish they could offer - helping people at difficult moments in their lives is what many of my colleagues became a GP for.

But unless politicians match their promises on quicker access to GP appointments with meaningful investment, they risk deepening the crisis in general practice rather than solving it.

Research by The Health Foundation confirms what many of us already know: access to GP appointments is now the public's top concern about the NHS, ahead of A&E waiting times.

It's no surprise, then, that the Scottish Government and opposition parties are making bold pledges to improve access to GP appointments ahead of next year's Scottish Parliament election.