A shocking poll has found a quarter of Scotland’s GPs know a colleague who took their own life.
We told yesterday how 86 per cent of family doctors who responded to a survey said they had experienced anxiety, depression or stress because of their job in the past year.
The survey by the Rebuild General Practice campaign warns of excessive workloads, abuse and a crisis in mental health.
Today, further results from the survey of Scots GPs show 29 per cent knew a colleague who had chosen to end their own life.
The poll also revealed almost nine in 10 GPs had experienced mental abuse at work.
One third of general practices in Scotland reported they had lost staff in the past five years because of unmanageable workloads.
And 31 per cent say GPs have left due to mental health issues or burnout. Other findings include:
●Only 11 per cent of GPs in Scotland believe their practice is safe for patients at all times.
●68 per cent believe the risk to patient safety is increasing.
●65 per cent do not have adequate time with each patient to provide a thorough diagnosis.
The survey carried out last month found on average Scottish GPs are seeing 28 patients a day – three above the safety limit.
But as Midlothian GP Dr Amy Small told the Daily Record this week, GPs sometimes see up to double that number.
She voiced fears that patients lives were at risk due to the number of overworked doctors suffering mental health issues.
Ahead of Mental Health Awareness Week, GPs from across Britain speak out in an emotive video begging the UK’s governments to recruit local doctors.
As part of the Rebuild General Practice campaign, one says: “I’m worried about my patients. There aren’t enough of us to see every patient for long enough.
“There are millions of appointments being made but fewer of us to take them. And patients are suffering.
“We fear for your safety and for our own mental health. What do we do?
“We must Rebuild General Practice together to ensure patients receive the best care and reduce the current backlog of appointments.
“How? More staff, more resources and less bureaucracy because we all want the same thing – to give and receive the best healthcare.”
Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: “This needs to be treated as an urgent wake-up call for the Scottish Government.
“The Government must urgently put support in place.”
Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “These figures show the devastating human cost of the workforce problem in primary care.
“We need to value our GPs and the staff around them.”
The Scottish Government insists it is committed by 2027 to increase the number of GPs by 800 and that it has recruited more than 2400 healthcare experts to support practices.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We understand the pandemic took its toll on the health and emotional wellbeing of our health care staff and that they continue to face challenges as we ease restrictions and move towards recovery.
"We are grateful to all those who continued to deliver care throughout such a tough time.
“Suicidal thoughts are often as a result of a number of complex issues people are experiencing and Government, and our partners, must take all the actions it can to reduce the number of people who die by suicide.
“We are working to bolster numbers to help deal with the workload, and have already delivered a record number of GPs working in Scotland, with more per head than any other country in the UK.
"We’re committed to further increasing the number of GPs in Scotland by 800 by 2027. We are on track to meet that commitment and have also recruited over 2,400 healthcare experts through the GP Contract to support practices
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