Scottish GP leaders have reported chronic shortages of doctors in a new survey, linking it to growing abuse of staff.

The British Medical Association warned of a shortage of more than 300 GPs after more than a third of practices reported having vacancies. In the survey, some 42% of GPs said demand was “substantially” exceeding their capacity. Just 4% said they had spare capacity. Some 420 doctors took part in the BMA survey, representing 46% of Scottish practices. Two thirds of doctors reported increasing levels of abuse towards staff.

The BMA called for fresh action to prevent abuse of practice staff, warning of the impact of the withdrawal of £70 million in promised cash from general practice.

BMA Scottish GP committee chair Dr Andrew Buist said: “The majority of GP surgeries are saying there is simply not enough capacity to meet demand for care – however I am deeply disappointed that there has been no improvement at all in 12 months despite pledges from the Scottish government to support general practice and recruit more doctors. With that in mind, we need more openness from government about what GPs can deliver right now. While our current struggles are in part due to increased demand, it is also clearly because we don’t have enough GPs. We have been saying this for some time, we believe it is widely accepted and acknowledged and is why we have always welcomed the Scottish government’s commitments to recruit the additional GP workforce.

“However, we need up to 1,000 more whole time equivalent GPs right now and I am concerned the government may not be on course to meet its target on delivering 800 additional GPs by 2027. This would be disastrous for Scotland and our patients. We are now looking at serious issues of patient safety and staff safety – a burnt-out and exhausted GP simply cannot provide the level of care our patients need and deserve.”