Hard-working GPs are fighting a losing battle in Lothian - Ian Murray

Imagine suffering for a month with bronchitis and phoning your GP 120 times in a desperate attempt to get an appointment.

GP rolls are dangerously high and staff morale is at a record low, says Ian Murray

That was the grim reality for an elderly resident in East Lothian, who has simply “given up” on seeing a doctor, as reported in this newspaper.

Sadly, I fear this example is far from unique. I know that in south Edinburgh, patients are facing incredible difficulties in accessing GP care. In late summer, I discovered that out of the 14 surgeries in the constituency I serve, only four were taking on new patients.

I have since spoken to hugely hard working doctors and health professionals across the capital who warn of dire consequences if more GP surgeries are not built. In fact, NHS Lothian said two years ago that Local GP services would “fail” are now being proven true.

How did such an unacceptable situation arise?

Edinburgh’s population has grown by 85,000 over the past decade, with another 70,000 people expected by 2030.

In Edinburgh South, whole swathes of land have been developed for housing without any additional GP practices being built.

These developments have largely been approved on appeal by the SNP Government, after initially being refused by the city council.

Our local GPs are doing incredible work taking on as many new patients as possible as demand soars, but rolls are now dangerously high and staff morale is at a record low.

For example, Gracemount has gone from a list size of 5,880 in 2005 to 8,653 as of April this year.

The issue is that the Scottish Government funding model for new surgeries doesn't account for population growth.

In Gilmerton, where there is massive demand for more medical services following the huge increase in homes along Station Road, we have identified a solution with local business Bernard Hunter to build a new state-of-the-art practice.

However, without the required funding from the Scottish Government, that project has now been placed in doubt.

As part of planning permission for new developments, developers are required to provide contributions for new school buildings. There is no good reason why healthcare infrastructure cannot be provided for in the same way.

The SNP government needs to step in today and agree to the request for a new practice in Gilmerton as a starting point but they deny and ignore the problem.

But it needs wider action than that to ensure a crisis like this isn’t repeated elsewhere in the city or across Scotland.

I have written an open letter to Health Secretary Humza Yousaf outlining the scale of the crisis facing Edinburgh South that can be signed at ianmurraymp.com. But given his track record on responding to my letters about the scale of the GP crisis in Edinburgh, I won’t hold my breath.

Like all the other challenges facing the NHS, including record A&E waiting times, Yousaf doesn’t care – unless he can somehow find a way to blame Westminster.

He should at least have the decency to respond to the residents who can’t access GP care due to his government’s inaction and give them a solution to this crisis.

Winter is coming, and the situation cannot be allowed to get any worse. Humza Yousaf must get a grip of this crisis without any further delay. My constituents deserve better.

Ian Murray is Labour MP for Edinburgh South