Walk away from walk-in clinics, Scottish health bodies urge government

Walk-in clinics risk undermining Scottish health services, primary care bodies have told the Scottish Government.

Ministers are working to create a network of walk-in GP centres around Scotland. Nine were in operation by the end of June, with the eleventh now newly opened in Buckhaven, Fife, amidst plans for 40 units across the country.

The move is aimed at easing pressure on frontline services, creating more chances for patients to access healthcare.

An average of 120 appointments took place across the nine-centre network each day last month, while standard GP practices see around 136,000 patients per day between them.

In a joint statement, three professional bodies – the Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland (RCGP Scotland), the Royal College of Pharmacy (Scotland), and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy Scotland – have now told ministers the centres risk creating unintended consequences while failing to address underlying challenges.

Issued ahead of next week’s Programme for Government, the statement calls on ministers to focus on other measures to boost healthcare, such as investment in IT, digital and telephony services.

The organisations say experience from England and elsewhere shows the current course of action may result in the duplication of services, exacerbation of health inequalities and destabilisation of existing local provision.

The statement said: “The next Programme for Government should prioritise policies that deliver evidence-based meaningful improvements for patients, clinicians and the wider health and care system. Rather than investing in walk-in GP centres, resources could be directed towards a range of proven measures that would improve access, strengthen existing services, and support higher-quality patient care.”

Dr Chris Provan, chair of RCGP Scotland, said: “As a GP, I am as frustrated as patients when difficulties arise in accessing appointments. Patients should be able to see their trusted GP in a timely way, and GPs are committed to supporting efforts that improve access to care.

“That is why we are calling on the Scottish Government to focus on measures that we know will make a real difference. This includes investing in IT and digital infrastructure, supporting practices to improve telephony and appointment booking systems, and tackling the barriers that prevent some patients from accessing healthcare.

“These practical solutions would do far more to help patients see the right healthcare professional at the right time than piloting GP walk-in centres, which risk duplicating existing services at significant cost, worsening health inequalities, and repeating approaches that have failed to deliver elsewhere.”

He added: “Ultimately, the most effective way to improve timely access to general practice is to increase capacity within the system. That means training, recruiting and retaining more GPs, and growing the number of appointments available to patients.”

However, First Minister John Swinney has said he is “confident that many more people will benefit” from walk-in centres as they are phased in.

He said: “The opening of our newest GP walk-in service, in Fife, is an important milestone in the roll-out of this pilot project, fulfilling my government’s commitment to open five new walk-in centres within our first 100 days of office. We have done this in Aberdeen, Dunoon, Invergordon, Cardonald and Buckhaven.

“This is part of my government’s wider agenda to provide patients with greater choice and access to care closer to home – in turn relieving pressure on hospitals and acute services.

“It will complement our trusted network of GP practices across the country, which we are bolstering with historic additional investment to recruit more GPs with £531m to 2029.”