A planned cut in the number of community link workers based in Glasgow GP surgeries "beggars belief" in the wake of figures revealing that the city has the lowest life expectancy in Scotland.
Campaigners rallied outside a meeting of health and social care chiefs in Glasgow city centre today to urge officials to reverse plans that will see the number of full-time community links practitioner (CLP) roles cut from 70 to 42 from April next year.
The decision means that the remaining CLPs will have to split their time managing many more patients across two or three GP practices instead of being embedded full-time to deal with each surgery's patient population.
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GPs working in the city's Deep End practices - where CLPs are based - have warned that the move will be "catastrophic" at a time of growing health inequalities and the cost of living crisis.
CLPs can help patients with a range of non-medical problems which affect health, such as benefits, housing, food and fuel poverty, social isolation and debt.
Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) has blamed the Scottish Government for failing to guarantee that the £1.35 million used to pay for CLPs this year would continue in 2024/25. CLPs are employed by HSCPs on annual rolling contracts.
The Scottish Government is understood to consider this temporary "top up" cash and has said it expects the service to continue using existing budgets from the Primary Care Investment Fund.
Deborah Hamilton, a CLP who spoke at the rally organised by the GMB trade union, urged the First Minister to intervene "as a matter of urgency".
She said: “If the Scottish Government is serious about easing the impact of poverty, it needs to get serious about saving these jobs.
“We are on the very frontline of those efforts and every day provide life-changing support and advice to patients.
“The work we do is not a luxury. It is essential and our intervention gives thousands of people the help they need before poverty impacts their health.
“Our work stops people getting sick or sicker and saves the NHS money. It is an investment in communities that could not need it more.
“Reducing the number of CLPs during an unprecedented cost of living crisis as poverty takes an increasing toll on our communities, is wrong for every possible reason.”
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CLPs in Glasgow helped more than 15,600 patients last year over the course of 43,847 appointments in GP surgeries.
The protest comes after figures from National Records of Scotland revealed that life expectancy has fallen for the third year in a row, and is lowest in Glasgow where the gap between men in the poorest and richest areas is already 15 years.
Modelling on Tuesday also forecast that falling incomes as a result of inflation will lead to an increase in premature mortality in Scotland similar to that caused by Covid during the first year of the pandemic.
Rory Steel, GMB Scotland policy and external affairs officer, said: “Sadly, the latest figures only confirm the terrible toll of poverty on the health of those living in our biggest city.
“Tragically, we already know how enduring health inequalities mean Scots are condemned to far shorter lives simply because of where they live.
“That is why the CLPs were enlisted and it beggars belief that such essential staff are at risk when their valued, essential work has never been needed more.”
Earlier this month, Glasgow city council backed an amendment calling on the Scottish Government to secure long-term funding for the Community Links programme and, as a priority, sign-off on the cash needed to maintain current staffing levels.
READ MORE: Community links cuts will be 'catastrophic' for patients, warn Deep End GPs
It is now seeking a meeting with ministers, Glasgow City Health Social Care Partnership, GMB Scotland and Deep End GPs in an attempt to resolve the deadlock.
Councillor Lana Reid-McConnell, who represents the Greens, said it makes no sense to cut what is widely-seen as a successful service.
She said: “They are a vital non-medical, social support in GP practices and their work in tackling isolation as well as emotional and financial hardship is a key preventative service that has been supported and expanded due to its success.”
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