Question reference: S6W-26828
- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 11 April 2024
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Current status: Answered by Neil Gray on 29 April 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many out-of-hours doctors have been on call in NHS Dumfries and Galloway on each of the last 30 days, also broken down by the location at which they have been based.
Answer
The Dumfries and Galloway (D&G) Out of Hours Service do not operate an 'on-call' model of service.
Whilst the number of GPs working in the Out of Hours service is not collected routinely by the Board, in the 30 days up to the 11 April, when the Parliamentary Question was lodged, there were 240 required shifts at the Dumfries Royal Infirmary base, of which 233 were filled. this equates to 97.08% coverage. In the same period, there were 92 required shifts at the Galloway Community Hospital base, of which 69 were filled. This equates to 75% coverage.
NHS D&G have robust arrangements in place to cover any GP cover shortages, with remote cover being provided from the centre in Dumfries and arrangements in place with A&E to re-direct if this is deemed clinically appropriate. The service maintains the home visiting service throughout and operates a wraparound nursing service to provide Out of Hours healthcare as required.