McInnes 'reassured' on locum GP's

12.33.00pm GMT Tue 29th Jan 2008

Alison McInnes today described a meeting with the Chief Executive of NHS Grampian as "productive", in the wake of recent reports exposing the case of a locum GP travelling from Poland to cover out of hours shifts in the North East.

The North East Liberal Democrat, who requested a meeting with the health board on reading the reports, commented, "NHS Grampian have reassured me that they are moving in the right direction regarding out of hours provision."

She continued, "They have recently increased the number of salaried doctors employed directly by themselves to cover out of hours services from 12 to 26, meaning there will be a significant reduction in the need to use agency locums. I welcome this increase in permanent posts, which will provide more consistency of service and mean doctors will be more familiar with the region."

During the meeting NHS Grampian also agreed to look into the gap in responsibility between the health board and employment agencies relating to the state in which GP's arrive for work. McInnes had expressed particular concern about how the health board monitored and enforced the "arriving fit for work" clause in the contract.