THE Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland (RCGP Scotland) has warned that the next Scottish Government must take drastic action to reduce the impact of poverty on patients.
This new call comes after RCGP Scotland’s annual membership survey showed that 55% of GP respondents reported increasing numbers of patient presentations that could either be linked to or worsened by poverty.
Some 12% reported a significant increase in those presentations, and zero respondents reported seeing a decrease.
Since the 1950s, Scotland has had the lowest life expectancy of all UK nations and in recent decades the country’s position has worsened relative to other western European nations.
On average, healthy life expectancy is a quarter of a century shorter in the most deprived tenth of areas in Scotland compared to the least deprived tenth of areas.
Recent figures showed that women have lost almost four years of healthy life expectancy and men have lost three years since 2014 to 2016.
RCGP Scotland’s manifesto – General practice: The solution to the NHS crisis – for the 2026 Scottish Parliament election calls on the next Scottish Parliament to ensure that resources are targeted to patients in deprived communities.
This would be in recognition of the fact that GPs and their teams working in deprived areas are more likely to have patients that require more complex care.
Commenting, RCGP Scotland chair, Dr Chris Provan said: “Health inequalities remain one of the defining challenges in Scotland’s health landscape and have continued to worsen in recent years.
“Healthy life expectancy is falling, and for people living in our most deprived communities, it is now a quarter of a century shorter than for those in the least deprived areas.
“With figures like these, it is unsurprising that more than half of our GP members report an increase in health problems that are either caused or exacerbated by poverty.
“In my daily practice, I see firsthand how poverty affects health – patients develop chronic conditions earlier, struggle to afford nutritious food or heat their homes, and all too often die prematurely.
“This should never be accepted as inevitable. No one should become ill faster because of where they were born or because of poverty.
“Declining healthy life expectancy not only leads to poorer health outcomes but also creates wider economic and social consequences as people can no longer work and become increasingly isolated due to deteriorating health.
“We know that countries with strong primary care systems – built around general practice – deliver better outcomes for patients and help to reduce health inequalities.
“That is why we are calling on the next Scottish Government to increase investment in GP services, ensuring at least 11% of the health budget goes to general practice, with a longer?term ambition to raise this to 15%.
“This additional investment would allow for the recruitment of more staff in socio?economically deprived areas, giving GPs more time with patients and enabling them to provide more preventive care.
“Practices in deprived communities already struggle with recruitment and staff retention challenges due to high workloads and intense pressures.
“New funding must also be delivered in line with the principles of proportionate universalism, ensuring support is targeted where it is needed most.
“This approach would maximise the impact of new investment, helping reduce health inequalities and ultimately increasing the number of years people in Scotland spend in good health.
“The next Scottish Parliament term must be the one to break the trend of worsening health inequalities.”
