How is the SNP increasing access to GPs?
A record number of GPs are now working in Scotland and the SNP in government is committed to increase that number further.
The Scottish Government is making good progress on its commitment to increasing the number of GPs in Scotland by at least 800 by 2027.
The GP head count now sits consistently at more than 5,000, with an increase of 271 additional GPs since 2017.
Scotland continues to have a higher number of GPs per head of population than the rest of the UK
Excluding specialist trainees, in December 2025, Scotland had 84 GPs per 100,000 population, compared with 65 in England and 67 in Wales.
The Scottish Government also invests more than £1 million every year in a range of recruitment and retention initiatives, so that working as a GP in Scotland remains an attractive career choice.
This builds on a range of measures which also include increasing undergraduate placements, looking at training placements to boost future capacity, incentivising moves to rural practice, and providing a wide range of development and support opportunities for GPs throughout their careers.
The SNP has confirmed the location of the first of its new walk-in GP clinics, following a £36 million SNP investment in GP services announced in the Scottish Budget.
This marked the start of a nationwide rollout of 30 SNP walk-in GP clinics designed to improve access to primary care across Scotland.
The walk-in clinics will allow people to see a GP or nurse quickly without the need for an appointment, focusing on urgent, on-the-day primary care needs.
They will be open 12pm–8pm, seven days a week, helping patients get the care they need while also easing pressure on GP practices and hospital A&E departments.
The SNP’s walk-in GP clinics will strengthen Scotland’s HNS by delivering over one million additional GP and nurse appointments.
Since 2018, the Scottish Government has significantly expanded the range of healthcare professionals supporting GP practices.
Across Scotland, there are now more than 4,730 primary care multidisciplinary team (MDT) members working in areas such as pharmacy, physiotherapy, phlebotomy, and other disciplines.
That means that the average practice now has access to more than five MDT members of the medical department team, alongside GPs and their practice teams.
The Scottish Government is supporting development of these teams through investment of £190 million in the Primary Care Improvement Fund.
This enables those vital teams to free up practice time so that GPs can focus on more complex community care and reduce referrals to secondary care.
The multidisciplinary team workforce is supporting GPs and practice teams, ensuring more people get the right care in the right place at the right time.
The Scottish Government’s 2025-26 Budget invests over £2.2 billion to deliver and improve primary health care services in the community.
The Scottish Government will increase capacity and access to primary care to shift the balance of care to preventative and community-based support.
Funding for General Medical Services will see a 7.1% increase to £1.12 billion. This will be commissioned by NHS Boards and delivered through GP practices, including a performance and reform package to deliver targeted enhanced services in General Practice.