The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) in Scotland has called on politicians to increase the numbers of practice and community nurses in its 2016 manifesto.
The manifesto highlighted the areas that need boosting in general practice in 2016 and urged the Scottish Government to take on these recommendations.
A clear workforce expansion strategy which includes practice and community nurses was also recommended. It also called for greater collaborative working in communities.
Allison Tait, co-chair of the Scottish Practice Nurse Association, said: ‘The Scottish Practice Nurse Association is supportive of the RCGP’s call to increase the investment in general practice, and a workforce plan that delivers enough GPs and primary care nurses to deliver healthcare in general practice.
‘Nursing in primary care is an exciting and very rewarding career and we need to encourage nurses to consider this area of nursing. There needs to be a continued investment in primary care to achieve this.’
Furthermore, the manifesto called for longer consultation times especially in terms of mental health, multimorbidity, and high deprivation.
The manifesto identified that 90% of all patient contact with NHS Scotland goes through general practice.
The lack of funding was also highlighted. The manifesto called for a commitment to increase the funding for general practice until it reached 11% of NHS Scotland’s funding. Regular statistics should be published to show how this was being achieved, it said.
The manifesto also said there needed to be more CPD for all general practice staff and that universities must expose students to general practice to encourage more young people into the profession