THE prognosis isn't good with Fife GPs telling patients that rising bills and decreasing funding has led to a "critical" situation across the country.

A statement published by the Fife Local Medical Committee Ltd says there is a lack of money, doctors and staff to meet the needs of a growing population.

A letter to patients has urged Fifers to ask questions to those in power.

"If you’re not satisfied with the service you receive, look beyond the practice and instead hold those with the power to improve matters to account," they said.

"Scottish Government needs to do more to directly support general practice, the bedrock of the NHS. Please contact your MSP."

With many Fife practices facing increasing bills for their mortgages, rent payments and utility bills, there was a warning that surgeries will see a deterioration in their financial situation which will likely lead to reduced staffing, with fewer appointments and longer waits to be seen.

READ MORE: Staffing is at 'danger levels' at Lynebank hospital, says nurse

"All practices in Fife are impacted by Scottish Government not funding an increase in compulsory pension contributions," it continued.

"This is only occurring in general practice in Scotland; the English and Welsh governments have already committed to paying this, and there is funding in place for all staff in hospitals.

"Therefore, these payments come out of the funding available to practices to pay for administrative staff, nurses and doctors.

"GPs are in demand. There are many roles and jobs that require the skills of a GP, so the GP that you see in your practice will likely be working 'full time' hours across fewer, longer days with other days spent in these other roles or undertaking caring responsibilities for their families.

"As part of the 2017 contract the Scottish Government promised that numbers would rise by 800, however when doctors in training are excluded from the figures, the numbers are actually reducing!

"Since 2013, the GP WTE (whole time equivalent) workforce has fallen by 5.35 per cent – a fall of 196.7 whole time equivalent GPs. In that same time period, the number of practices has fallen by nine per cent, average practice list sizes have increased by 18 per cent and the total patient population has increased by seven per cent."

Ageing facilities – health chiefs are still waiting for new centres in Kincardine and Lochgelly – are also not helping.

READ MORE: NHS Fife lodge new Kincardine Health Centre proposals

The letter added: "In many areas, practice buildings are too small and are outdated. Unfortunately, Scottish Government has now cancelled all funding for new builds, leaving many working out of buildings no longer fit for purpose.

"Scottish Government has also withdrawn sustainability loans, a scheme to reduce the risk for GPs who own their building. This leads to financial loss which again impacts on the services they can deliver."

Responding to the statement, a Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We increased funding to general medical services by almost six per cent over the last year, to over £1.2 billion, to ensure more people get the right care in the right place at the right time.

“Scotland has a higher number of GPs per head than the rest of the UK, and a record 1,200 trainee GPs coming through the training system in Scotland. We are fully committed to increasing the number of GPs in Scotland and funded the creation of 35 additional GP training posts in 2023 with a further 35 being added this year.”