TWEEDDALE MP David Mundell says more needs to be done to attract GPs to the area to fill vacancies.

The Scottish Government announced The Scottish Targeted Bursary Scheme this week to give GPs a one-off payment of £20,000 to encourage them to work in areas where it has been hard to recruit.

Mr Mundell has welcomed the scheme, but says more must be done to attract doctors to the region. He told the Peeblesshire News: “While it is welcome the Scottish Government are taking action to try and recruit GPs to rural areas, a situation where they are having to offer financial incentives in order to fill posts should never have arisen.

“The Scottish Government have had nine years to come up with solutions for GP staffing levels in rural areas like Tweeddale, but all too often they have spent more money on health services in our major cities and neglected rural areas,” he added.

“They should have done far more to encourage people to live and work in a wonderful part of Scotland like Tweeddale, but now find themselves having to offer cash incentives to fill posts in these areas.

“Protecting health services and GP staffing levels in Tweeddale is always of the highest priority for me and I hope that vacancies in Tweeddale can be filled as soon as possible.”