GPs

Chair’s update: Pushing hard on your priorities

It is only just over three weeks since I wrote my first blog as chair of BMA Scotland Council – but it’s fair to say the days have passed in…

General Practice…

Recruitment, retention, wellbeing and rediscovering the joy of being a GP.

15 Sep 2022September 16, 2022

The recruitment and retention crisis in General Practice is something we are all familiar with, a topic on the agenda for the past decade at least. However, it is really…

Supporting each other through tough times

13 Sep 2022September 13, 2022

I and others in BMA Scotland have written several blogs about the importance of doctors’ “wellbeing” in recent years; highlighting the importance of the topic and the resources that doctors…

The Case of the Missing Consultation

24 Aug 2022August 25, 2022

Pension Contributions – this affects your pay! There’s long been a tradition of ‘summer reading’ and after we received the interim response from the Scottish Public Pension Agency (SPPA) to…

Pay survey results: the devaluing of our profession is no longer acceptable to doctors

19 Aug 2022August 19, 2022

First, thank you to all those who took the time to fill in our pay survey. The fact that more than 3,100 of you did so – more than double…

General Practice…

Visa issues could force doctors out

When I came to Scotland seven years ago as a transfer student from Malaysia to continue my medical training, I expected to enjoy my time here. What I didn’t expect…

ARM 2022 – Reflections from Scotland

I should start this blog by saying that I wasn’t physically at the ARM. An on-call weekend and absent colleagues meant that I had to stay in Edinburgh, dipping in…

National Care Service Bill: Some positives for GPs

At the moment good news is not something that is in plentiful supply, particularly for those of us working in the NHS across both primary and secondary care, so when…

General practice – and the whole NHS – is struggling badly

9 Jun 2022June 9, 2022

Across healthcare services we are not in a good place just now. To be honest it is only the increasing cost of living crisis, ‘partygate’ and the Ukraine situation which…

Caring for patients is a doctor’s top priority: caring for doctors, and all other health and care staff, therefore must be a national priority.

13 May 2022May 13, 2022

The health service across Scotland is still very much feeling the impact of the pandemic – and we will be for some time as we attempt to catch up and…

Scottish Conference round-up

BMA Scotland held its third Scottish Conference last week – also marking our first fully in-person event in more than two years – and it was great to see so…

Tough times for GPs – but some cause for optimism

21 Mar 2022March 28, 2022

As chair of GPC Scotland it can be risky to start to feel more positive about things. It has been a terrible 2 years for all of us. I am…