Public satisfaction in Scottish health service plummets as fewer patients seen in person

Public satisfaction in Scotland's health service has plummeted as fewer patients are seen by GPs in person and the system struggles to recover from the covid pandemic.

The damning results were revealed today in the Health and Care Experience Survey - a Scottish Government -backed initiative that received more than 130,000 responses.

The proportion of people satisfied with the overall care provided by GP practices dropped by 12 percentage points in two years, with a third of people failing to rate their overall care positively.

Opposition parties blamed the Scottish Government for failing to ensure GP vacancies are filled - causing shortfalls in many rural areas.When asked about their overall experience of their GP, 67 per cent of respondents gave a positive rating - a drop of 12 per cent from the previous survey and 23 per cent from the first survey undertaken in 2009-10.The exact same response was received by people who attended out of hours NHS services – a 12 per cent drop in positive experience to 67 per cent.GP services were further disrupted last year because of the ongoing pandemic, forcing more patients to be seen by phone or virtually to avoid the spread of the virus.The survey suggests a 49 per cent drop - to 37 per cent - of patients being seen by GPs face to face, compared to 57 per cent who were seen by phone appointment, an increase of 46 per cent.Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour's spokeswoman on health, said: "This damning survey lays bare the toll that SNP mismanagement is having on Scotland’s NHS and social care."The survey is full of praise for hardworking staff, who are clearly working tirelessly to try and fix problems they did not create – but there is only so much they can do."GP practices are doing