MORE than 200 people flocked to a public meeting in Musselburgh to air their concerns about the service provided at the town’s Riverside Medical Practice.

Among the issues highlighted were long waits to get through to the surgery by telephone; failure of repeat prescriptions; poor communication with patients; very long waiting times to see a named GP; lack of continuity of care and treatment; difficulties with NHS 24; and test results not being given out by doctors.

Concerns were also raised about GP training and recruitment, the area’s growing population causing additional pressures on local health services, the cost of calling the surgery and the idea of an online booking system.

The meeting at the Fisherrow Centre was organised by East Lothian’s MP Martin Whitfield and Kezia Dugdale MSP, the former Scottish Labour leader.

They agreed to take the issues and questions raised back to the practice and update those who attended the meeting with the answers.

Dr Andrew Cowie from the British Medical Association (BMA) also attended the meeting and confirmed that many of the problems experienced in Musselburgh were also happening in practices around the country.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Whitfield said: “We knew that many local people had experienced difficulties with local GP services, which was why Kezia and I organised the meeting.

“However, the huge turnout and wide range of problems highlighted on the night has really underlined the urgent need for improvement in the service locally.

“Several speakers expressed their frustration with issues, such as the amount of time it can take to get through to the practice or make an appointment, problems with repeat prescriptions and lack of continuity of care.

“These were genuine and heartfelt concerns and they must be heard and acted on.

“However, it was also acknowledged that staff at the practice are over-stretched and doing their best under great pressure. The Royal College of GPs estimate that Scotland will be short of nearly 900 GPs by 2021.

“East Lothian and the rest of Scotland requires far more GPs to keep local surgeries open and give people the level of care they need.”

Mr Whitfield’s Labour colleague Ms Dugdale, a Lothian region MSP, added: “This was a constructive and informative public meeting which brought to the fore a range of serious issues.

“Many of the problems people described facing in Musselburgh are similar to those experienced in GP surgeries across the Lothians and the rest of Scotland, some of which Andrew from the BMA talked about.

“Scottish Government cuts to funding for General Practice and a lack of GPs are the root of the problem.

“The scale of the workforce crisis has increased on [Health Secretary] Shona Robison’s watch, with one in three practices reporting unfilled posts. But it took the Health Secretary until April to finally publish a primary care workforce plan. This is too little, too late.

“The only way to deliver the level of service people in Musselburgh and elsewhere are looking for is to adequately fund our NHS primary care services.

“I am committed to keeping up the pressure on the Health Secretary to accept that GP surgeries across Scotland are in crisis and provide the funding and support they so desperately need.”

In January, Eskbridge Medical Practice merged with the Riverside practice to form the largest practice in East Lothian with about 19,000 patients.

Inveresk Medical Practice, which is also based at Musselburgh Primary Care Centre, was unaffected.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We are aware of the collaboration project under way at the Riverside Medical Practice with NHS 24 to manage same-day appointment requests.

“We would encourage them to continue working together to resolve any issues which may be being experienced by patients as this new service is developing.”