Royal College of Nursing Scotland comments on Audit Scotland’s review of General Medical Services contract

Published: 02 July 2008

While the Audit Scotland review found that the new General Medical Services (GMS) contract has improved services for some patients, RCN Scotland is concerned about lack of information on the work carried out by practice nurses and other staff in GP practices across Scotland.

Practice nurses have a growing role in delivering the incentive payment system for quality within GP practices, yet there is no workforce or staff remuneration information available for those working in GP practices, other than for GPs themselves.

Theresa Fyffe, Director of RCN Scotland, said:

“The growing role of nurses in delivering healthcare in GP practices is reflected by the fact that the overall number of consultations carried out by practice nurses increased by over 11% between 2003/04 and 2006/07. However, the lack of data on GP practice staff means that NHS boards cannot plan effectively for workforce needs. The NHS is developing sophisticated tools to measure and manage workload and planning for the workforce and similar information for GP practices is required to enable services to respond to the needs of the local community.

“We urge the Scottish Government and health boards to ensure that GPs provide data on all the staff they employ in order to allow robust workforce planning to take place and to ensure that the contribution of all staff within GP practices, including practice nurses, are appropriately recognised and rewarded”.