Thursday April 23rd 2026
Midlothian North candidates at last nights hustings: (left to right) Scottish Labour and Cooperative Party candidate Caitlin Stott, Scottish Greens list candidate Jo Philips, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party candidate Phil Doggart, Scottish Liberal Democrats candidate Jenny Claire Marr Butler, SNP candidate Colin Beattie and Reform UK candidate Pal Chidambaram
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Marie Sharp
Former Midlothian MSP Colin Beattie has called for GPs to be brought under NHS control after saying ‘hundreds of millions of pounds’ are given to them with no accountability.
Speaking at Midlothian View’s election hustings in Dalkeith last night, Mr Beattie, who is standing as SNP candidate for the Midlothian North seat at next month’s Scottish Parliament elections, said the current GP system is ‘archaic’ and he backed calls for an end to the ‘lottery’ of 8am calls for appointments.
Mr Beattie, who represented the former Midlothian North and Musselburgh ward for 15 years and is now standing for the newly created seat, said problems with GP practices stretched back to the launch of the NHS in 1948 when family doctors were granted independent contractor status.
He said it meant GP practices were run independent of the NHS and did not have to provide accounts or explain their spending.
In response to a question from the public asking what candidates would do to improve issues with getting GP appointments, Mr Beattie said: “The current system does not reflect modern thinking.
“We are putting hundreds of millions of pounds into GP services yet we do not know fully how it is spent. It is an archaic system. I would agree with bringing them into the National Health Services, it is not an SNP policy but it is the right thing to do.”
The hustings was organised by Midlothian View and held at St St John’s and King’s Park Church, Dalkeith, which was packed with members of the public who came to the free event.
All five constituency candidates took part alongside a list representative from the Scottish Greens.
The panel was made up of Mr Beattie, Jenny Claire Marr Butler, Scottish Liberal Democrats; Pal Chidambaram, Reform UK; Phil Doggart, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Caitlin Stott, Scottish Labour and Cooperative Party and list candidate Jo Philips from the Scottish Greens.
Mr Doggart told the hustings that his party would increase the amount of total NHS funding which was spent on GP services to 12 per cent over the course of the next parliament of elected.
Mr Chidambaram said his party supported creating more incentives to make GP jobs more attractive to those needed to fill the posts and tackle a lack of doctors.
Caitin Scott told the meeting that the system of people having to call their practice at 8am to try and get a daily appointment at surgeries had made GP appointments “the holy grail”.
While Jenny Butler said GPs were telling her their roles were not “an attractive job” any more and her party would change that.
Jo Philips said the Scottish Greens were pledging one GP for every 1,000 patients in their manifesto ahead of the election.
She said: “GPs are the most important part of the NHS as they are the frontline.”
Candidates also faced questions on how they would improve Scotland’s reputation as an education leader and schools and how they will find the money to fund their promised changes if elected during the ninety minute hustings.
The election takes place on May 7 with the results due to be announced the following day.
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