LINBURN Road Health Centre had a day with no GP cover at all earlier this month, the Press can reveal exclusively.

The practice, which had a total of 8,706 patients on its books as of October 1, was left with no doctor on shift on Friday, November 12.

The situation arose after the GP on shift became unwell and it was impossible to find a locum.

An advanced nurse practitioner provided cover and patients who still needed a consultation have been rescheduled, the practice assured.

A spokesperson for Linburn Road Health Centre said: “On Friday 12 November 2021, the GP on shift at Linburn Road Health Centre became unwell and had to return home to recover.

“It was not possible to arrange a GP locum at short notice, however, cover was provided by our advanced nurse practitioner with support from a prescribing pharmacist to ensure that as many patients could continue to be appropriately seen as possible.

“The GP has since recovered and returned to work, and those patients who could not be seen on Friday and who still require a consultation have since been rescheduled.”

West Fife medical practices are facing a number of difficulties, with the Press reporting recently that Fife had one of the lowest counts for GPs per head than almost anywhere in Scotland.

Temporary alterations are to be made to the appointment system at Valleyfield Medical Practice to deal with changes to its GP cover.

Appointments will be prioritised on clinical need and urgency due to the departure of two doctors and the reduction in hours of another.

New Park Medical Practice has changed GP appointments to a same-day or next-day booking system recently.

Doctors are struggling to deal with increased demand with the surgery in Dunfermline stating that phone calls from patients had more than doubled in two years.

The Robertson Road practice said it received 6,860 calls in September 2019 but for the same month this year, the number had shot up to 14,660.

The surgery said it was trying to deal with the huge spike in demand while at the same time coping with staff absences, reduced waiting room capacity and other difficulties due to the pandemic.