General practice in Scotland has suffered a decline in public support in spite of continuing high levels of satisfaction, according to a new survey.

Some 67% of patients reported a positive experience of care in the Scottish government survey of 130,000 patients, reported by the Daily Telegraph. This represented a decline of 12 percentage points in two years, linked to changes in care during the pandemic.

The new survey asked patients about their experience last year when pandemic restrictions were still in place. 57% of patients reported having consultations by telephone but 25% said they had not found it easy to contact their practice. The proportion of face to face consultations was 37%.

Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane, a GP, blamed the Scottish government for shortages of GPs. Dr Gulhane said: “As a GP myself I’m acutely aware of the chronic shortfall in numbers across Scotland but especially in rural and remote areas. This is a direct result of the SNP’s appalling NHS workforce planning, including the decision by Nicola Sturgeon, as Health Secretary, to reduce the number of funded places for homegrown medical students at Scottish universities. That has led to insufficient graduates coming through to fill GP vacancies. Inevitably, that has made it harder for patients to get appointments and forced them to travel further afield to access services, so it’s little wonder satisfaction rates are declining.”

A Scottish government spokeswoman said: “It’s important to note that this survey was conducted during the height of the pandemic, which had a huge impact on how GPs and primary care could support their patients. We’re working to expand the services available in primary care, not least through the use of more multi-disciplinary teams to support patients being seen by the right person at the right time.”