Dumbarton MSP slams 'devastating' cuts to GP support staff as she calls for move to be reversed

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Dumbarton's MSP has slammed "devastating" cuts to GP support staff after the area's Health and Social Care Partnership revealed plans to slash jobs to plug a £320,000 budget black hole.West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) is cutting the number of Community Links Workers (CLWs) from nine to five - a move which has seen almost 60 of the region's GPs write to the HSCP to raise concerns.CLWs work alongside GPs in surgeries to deliver dedicated support with non-medical problems - impacting on patients’ health, such as debt, housing, loneliness, food and fuel poverty, and abuse.The CLWs are employed by West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership – which runs community health services – and funded through the Primary Care Improvement Plan (PCIP).Labour MSP Jackie Baillie has taken aim at Scottish Government cuts which she says prompted the move.The HSCP is receiving a flat cash settlement from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, resulting from the cuts, with Ms Baillie saying budgets have been left “under considerable strain”.She said: “These CLWs are vital for taking pressure off GPs and helping the most vulnerable people in our communities with issues which can directly affect their health.“I am clear that the blame for these cuts lies firmly at the door of the SNP government."While they are conducting a national policy review on the potential approach to funding General Practice CLWs, they have forced West Dunbartonshire HSCP into cutting these valuable staff."I have already received correspondence from GPs in my constituency sharing their concerns over these cuts and paying tribute to the efforts their CLWs go to."It is time for the SNP to reverse these devastating cuts and properly invest in