THE rising problems of patients being able to obtain appointments at Lochgelly Health Centre is a classic example of the situation which is affecting the whole county, an MSP said this week.

A petition calling on NHS Fife and the Scottish Government to take action to address the shortages of GPs and qualified medical staff in Fife is building support as Mid Scotland and Fife MSP, Alex Rowley, has warned things will ‘get worse’ unless action is taken.

A notice was posted by Dr Susan Cattanach, at the David Street facility, explaining that the loss of two GPs at the Health Centre had led to days when she was covering 3,600 patients by herself.

The notice added: "The practice would like to ask for your patience during our time while attempting to recruit GPs to cover the appointments Dr Wilson and Dr Hendricks did. Due to this there will be a reduction in the appointments the practice may have to offer."

Mr Rowley said; “Across Fife medical practices are finding it difficult to recruit GPs and qualified medical staff resulting in practices closing their books and asking patients outwith the catchment areas to find another practice”.

In Lochgelly this week members of the public were signing the petition and talking about their own experiences as well as the pressure that is being put on staff in the Health Centre as a result of being two GPs short.

Mr Rowley described the situation in Lochgelly 'as very concerning' and said that the situation across Fife is getting more difficult.

He said: “There has been a complete failure of Government to carry out workforce planning and if you look at the age profile of GPs this is a situation that is only going to get worse unless some kind of action is taken to support more people into the medical profession".

He continued; “There is no point of the Scottish Government continuing to make excuses, we need action and I am asking both the Government and NHS Fife to explain what it is they are doing to address this growing problem.

"I have launched this petition as I think the more people who will speak up on this issue and demand action the more likely we are to get the NHS Board and the Government to focus on finding solutions".

Mr Rowley continued: “I really worry for the future if we do not take the steps necessary to address the issues.

"We have practices closing their lists, practices closing and many practices paying a fortune to bring in locums and now practices are reporting it more and more difficult to get locums whilst NHS Fife acknowledging high risks for practices across Fife as a result of recruitment difficulties”.

Mr Rowley has written to the Cabinet Secretary for Health seeking a meeting to discuss what is being done to address the ‘growing crisis’ in recruiting GPs in Fife.

The Scottish Government has been trying hard to square the shortage of GPs in Scotland circle with several initiatives.

On of these is to fund 85 additional places for medical students at universities in a bid to tackle the ongoing GP recruitment crisis.

The new courses will focus on general practice and supports the aim to increase the number of GPs by at least 800 over the next decade, with a route new route for experienced healthcare professionals to enter medicine also being introduced.