Medical Education Capacity in General Practice in Scotland Working Group: interim report

4. Conclusion

The analysis presented in this interim report demonstrates that while Scotland has made meaningful progress in strengthening General Practice medical education, significant capacity pressures remain. Stakeholders across practices, universities, NES, Health Boards and the Scottish Government have worked to sustain and, where possible, expand teaching. Looking ahead, the working group highlights that demand for placements has the potential to outstrip current capacity without coordinated action.

The evidence indicates that medical education capacity in General Practice is shaped by interdependent factors: workforce supply, workload intensity, the growth of multidisciplinary teams, physical space, and supervisory time.

Training opportunities and medical education capacity are unevenly distributed. Rural and island alongside deep end practices make a vital contribution to training but often face fragile supervisory pipelines, challenges with premises, and distinct workload demands. Ensuring appropriate numbers of placements and supervisors in areas of deprivation alongside rural and islands is essential, not only to give learners experience of working in such areas but also to build and retain the future workforce required to meet Scotland’s population health needs.

This report also highlights the richness and some limitations of the current data landscape. Scotland holds a substantial amount of undergraduate and postgraduate training data, and this should be used to understand where and how that capacity can be best utilised, alongside addressing capacity challenges across the whole system.

Exposure to General Practice is essential for developing clinicians capable of delivering the coordinated, person-centred generalist care that Scotland’s population increasingly requires. Phase 2 of the working group will therefore focus on identifying practical, scalable approaches to maximise current capacity, innovate to increase capacity and support sustainable growth across the education-to-workforce pipeline.

Next steps

The working group will now transition to the next phase of work, continuing collaboration with stakeholders to co-design practical solutions to strengthen capacity. Key areas of focus will include:

Modelling future scenarios: Project future capacity requirements and explore alternative placement structures.

Highlight good practice: Identify and share successful, scalable education models across Scotland.

Co-create innovative approaches to increase capacity: The working group will develop an ambitious set of practical, scalable proposals to increase medical education capacity in General Practice, including models that could unlock additional space, strengthen supervision capacity and enable growth across the training pipeline.

Formulate recommendations: Co-produce short and long-term recommendations, aligned with funding, infrastructure, and professional development strategies. A final report will be published in 2026.