INVERCLYDE is facing a GP out of hours crisis as shocking new figures reveal that closures have soared.

The rocketing number of shutdowns emerged after health campaigner and Labour general election candidate Martin McCluskey forced NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde health board to publish data about them.

In a new performance report bosses admitted that a shortage of doctors means that closures have increase from 32 in 2017 to over 400.

Another set of figures obtained by Mr McCluskey shows that one out of every four closures is in Inverclyde - despite the district having one of the smallest populations in the health board area.

The Tele has repeatedly highlighted the closures at both Greenock Health Centre and Inverclyde Royal in the last year which have forced people to travel to Paisley and wait many hours to be seen.

Mr McCluskey said: "These statistics show what people across Inverclyde have known to be true for a long time - that closures of the GP out of hours service are disproportionately affecting our area.

"Almost one in four closures across the whole region happened in Inverclyde, forcing people to travel to Paisley and Glasgow to see a GP." The health board's own data shows that from January to August 2017 there were a total of 32 closures across the board.

The figure for the same timeframe this year is 428.

Mr McCluskey submitted a Freedom of Information request and the results showed that from November 2018-October 2019 there were 597 closures in total - with 142 of them in Inverclyde.

The district has around 6.5 per cent of the health board's total population but closures here account for almost 25 per cent of the overall total.

Mr McCluskey said: "This situation can't continue.

"The health board say this is due to GP shortages, but we know that GPs are turning up to work in Inverclyde and being sent to Paisley instead.

"Our NHS needs urgent investment and it is for the SNP government to provide the funding we need for a seven day a week, 24 hours a day GP service in Inverclyde.

"If elected on Thursday, Labour will provide funding for the Scottish NHS and I will be pushing the government to use this money to restore a proper out of hours GP service to Inverclyde."

Health board bosses say they are currently reviewing the GP out of hours service and plan to recruit more dedicated GPs into it, but they do not say where they will be based.

A spokesperson for NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde said: "Every patient across NHS GGC who requires GP out of hours care needs to contact NHS 24 who will direct them to the nearest out of hours facility.

"When a GP out of hours centre is closed, our GP home visiting service is available as normal for patients who were assessed by NHS 24 as requiring this.

"There is always transport available for patients who do not have access to their own transport.

"This is not an issue which is unique to NHS GGC, nor Inverclyde Royal Hospital.

"We are currently advertising to recruit a number of salaried General Practitioners specifically for the out of hours service.

"This model is available in other NHS boards across Scotland and we hope this will offer us more flexibility for staffing our service."