MORE than 1,158 GPs in Scotland retired early in the last five years and “many are angry, demoralised and burnt out” amid soaring demand and shrinking resources, BMA Scotland warned yesterday.

The latest data released by the Scottish Public Pensions Agency shows only 25 GPs made it to their set retirement age of 66.

The figures mean that GP numbers have fallen from 3,478 whole-time equivalents in 2023 to 3,453 in 2024, a pressure compounded by 15 per cent rise in GP sessions lost to absence over the same period.

BMA GP committee chairman Dr Iain Morrison said: “It’s no surprise that GPs are retiring early rather than trying to continue to struggle on with the monumental pressures that practices are facing.

“Many are angry, demoralised and burnt out.

“For far too long, general practice has been starved of funding, with its share of the NHS budget falling from 11 per cent in 2004 to approximately 6 per cent now.

“We urge the Scottish government to provide more direct investment into general practice.”

A Scottish government spokesperson said it remained “determined to increase the number of GPs by 800 by 2027.”