A £20 million support package will see practices in Scotland getting a 1.5% increase in funding for expenses, it has been announced.

GP earnings will increase by 1% while every practice will get oxygen cylinders, it was announced.

The package was unveiled by Scottish health secretary Shona Robison at the country’s annual conference of local medical committees.

It includes funding for occupational health services for primary care staff and a £5 million fund to enable every practice to send a GP to take part in fortnightly sessions on cluster working.

The Scottish government says it has agreed the funding while negotiations about a “long-term, sustainable” arrangement for general practice in Scotland continue.

Ms Robison said: “The package of measures I have announced today is not only an investment in the future but is very much designed to address short-term pressures on GPs and their practice staff.

“They are immediate actions which we can progress now, while working towards the long-term change that I know GPs are calling for.”

The news was welcomed by Dr Alan McDevitt, chair of the British Medical Association GP committee in Scotland.

Earlier he told delegates at the conference: “I’m increasingly seeing patients with complex multiple problems, patients who need time for diagnosis, patients who need time to explore the treatments available to them, and patients who need time to talk to someone about their fears and concerns. But more and more, we as GPs don’t have that time.

“You’re all aware of the problems facing general practice. I know that, like me, you are increasingly becoming burnt out by the mounting pressures and demands of running a GP practice.

“Like you, I am worried that general practice is running out of time.”

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