Receptionists and practice nurses could take on new roles under a new deal in Scotland announced yesterday.

The British Medical Association said the deal could enable GPs to increase the time available for individual patient consultations.

As part of the deal, the Scottish government promised to maintain GP earnings up to April 2018.

There will be an investigation of what GP responsibilities could be transferred to other parts of the health service.

The deal refers to GPs becoming “clinical leaders” of expanded teams of professionals.

According to The Scotsman, this is likely to mean Scotland introducing schemes that use trained receptionists to point patients directly to clinicians such as pharmacists and physiotherapist.

Nurses would take on more responsibilities such as child vaccinations and diabetes patient reviews, it says.

The chair of the Scottish BMA GP committee Dr Alan McDevitt told the paper: “It will be for the GP and the patients to decide how long they spend on problems. That can’t happen just now when I am on a schedule of appointments every 10 minutes and there’s no space in the day.

“If we create space then that allows that time to occur.”

Welcoming the deal, he said: “Our shared vision for the future of Scottish general practice requires a team approach. It relies on clinical and non-clinical staff working together and to progress this there needs to be discussion that goes beyond the GP contract.

“We are mindful that this is an ongoing process, that further contractual changes will be necessary and that it will take time to make general practice in Scotland sustainable for the future.”

Scottish health secretary Shona Robison said: “We are shifting the balance of care away from hospitals and into the community, and GPs have a vital role to play in working with us to make it happen.

“For our part we will work to improve the attractiveness of general practice as a career, with action on workloads, and steps to create a more sustainable workforce.”