Scottish GP practices to benefit from £9m for IT upgrades

GP practices in Scotland are set to benefit from more than £9million to upgrade IT systems.

The newly announced funding will be used to improve internet connectivity and support the deployment of Attend Anywhere, an online virtual clinic that allows patients to link in wherever they are.

Part of the funding will also be used to digitise patient records and upgrade GP premises.

Scottish Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: “The upgrades to premises and IT systems will see continued improvements to the delivery of high quality patient care, including the continued deployment of Attend Anywhere in our remote and rural areas.

“This investment is part of a wider commitment to increase general practice funding by £250 million by 2021 as part of an extra investment of £500 million per year for primary care funding.

“This funding together with our wider reform programme will mean additional staff working in primary care, providing better services for patients and allowing them to see the right person at the right time.”

Of the £9.34m committed, £5.14m will fund digitisation of GP paper records and improvements to premises, £5m will be allocated to Integration Authorities to carry out digitisation of GP paper records and £0.14m will go to NHS National Services Scotland to digitise paper GP records transferring between paper-light GP practices.

Scottish GP Committee deputy chair, Patricia Moultrie, added: “This is welcome funding for GP premises and will allow partners to improve their practices and give much-need updates to IT systems.

“This funding is definitely a step in the right direction in regards to making premises fit for the multidisciplinary teams working within general practice in the future, as we look towards the development of Phase 2 of the GP contract.”