The NHS in Scotland has had to increase rates of pay for out-of-hours GPs in efforts to fill empty shifts this summer

The NHS in Scotland has had to increase rates of pay for out-of-hours GPs in efforts to fill empty shifts this summer

The NHS in Scotland has had to increase rates of pay for out-of-hours GPs in efforts to fill empty shifts this summer

The NHS in Scotland has received to boost rates of spending on out-of-hours GPs in efforts to fill empty shifts come July 1st.

Recently, Scotland on Sunday revealed that doctors feared an impending crisis in out-of-hours care as GPs were not as willing to cover evenings and weekends.

The Scottish Government and health boards have finally said they are confident all shifts is going to be covered in the coming months following efforts to tackle the issue.

The conventional rates of pay vary throughout the country, however are normally between £50 and £80  one hour. This may rise to £150 each hour around holidays including Christmas.

Ayrshire and Arran are among the those boards who may have increased pay, with rates up by 30 percent with respect to the shift. What this means is, by way of example, the hourly rate for your weekend shift between 1pm and 6pm has risen from £79.80 to £103.74.

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NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde stated it has expanded its weekend out-of-hours rates to £90 1 hour in line “with action taken by other west of Scotland health boards”during the holiday period.

Dr Alan McDevitt, chair of the British Medical Association’s Scottish GPs committee, said: “It seems that in the mean time the immediate crisis has been averted.

We still need to go through the long-term out-of-hours services and there's a review of unscheduled care happening right now which is considering A&E and GP services. We are part of that process to be sure that services are fit for future years and sustainable actually-term

Dr McDevitt said measures to avert the crisis had involved increasing pay in certain areas. “ The rates ended up fixed since 2004 so by changing them they've the best way to interested, ” he said.