This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Funding for general practice training
05/03/2004
Investment of £2 million to improve training for the
next generation of key staff in general practice was
announced today.
The money will provide facilities for medical and
non-medical staff to learn new and update existing skills
so that they can better serve patients.
Speaking in Montrose where he opened the new Links
Health Centre, Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm said:
"Continuing education is a vital feature of modern
medicine and it cannot be delivered effectively in busy and
cramped environments.
"Proper facilities for training are essential if we are
to recruit and retain key staff in general practice.
"I recognise the need for improvements so that the right
training can be delivered in the right place within the
practice to support local recruitment strategies.
"There is scope for both practices in towns and cities
to benefit, particularly in areas of high deprivation, and
also in rural areas far distant from the universities and
medical schools.
"This investment will enable that to happen and will
encourage medical students considering a career in general
practice and the other key members of the primary care team
by providing first rate facilities for training."
The £2 million comes on top of a national premises
modernisation programme which has seen £51 million invested
over the last five years. This has supported more than 100
projects including adapting health centres for the training
of dental students and providing areas for computer
training.
In a separate initiative, £30 million worth of new
projects have already been commissioned for investment in
modern purpose-built GP leasehold premises.
The Links Health Centre is one of these new GP leasehold
premises which brings three general practices and community
health under the same roof. If offers a wide range of
services including minor injuries, outpatient and
physiotherapy departments as well as a specialist nursing
wing with its own minor surgery facility.
Mr Chisholm said:
"I am privileged to be invited to open this impressive
building and I am delighted to have the opportunity to meet
practice staff
"In many ways, what is being offered at the Links
represents an excellent model for the rest of Scotland to
follow. It is not just about a new and welcoming health
centre with training facilities for staff already
built-in.
"Modern general practice means far more than that. We
know that 90 per cent of patients' contacts with the NHS
are in primary care and increasingly we are seeing new
services being offered locally for patients.
"There is excellent team working between disciplines, a
wide range of services and all frontline staff making full
use of their professional skills.
"This is a singular achievement with a great deal of
hard work by many people and agencies to bring this project
to fruition. I am sure the Links will benefit the people of
Montrose and beyond for years to come."
The £2m for capital projects to enhance the capacity of
GP premises to support practice based training will be
distributed over two years. Up to 20 practices are
expected to benefit.
Allocations will be made via lead NHS Boards, which will
co-ordinate implementation plans with the four University
Deaneries involved in medical training, and other NHS
Boards to deliver the most effective use of the resources
across the country.