New figures show that more than 7,000 consultations were held at Scotland’s first GP walk-in services.
The number of consultations at the centres increased to a high of 2,299 in June as services were established, Public Health Scotland data shows.
The services are part of an innovative pilot, testing a new way of accessing same-day care from GPs or Advanced Nurse Practitioners at a wider range of times. They have been designed to provide more choice for patients while helping to relieve pressure on wider NHS services.
Between February and June GP walk-in pilot services were opened in six locations.
Health Secretary Angela Constance said: “We have promised to end the frustrating 8am rush for GP appointments and this new data shows that more people are benefiting from appointment-free care, at a time that works best for them.
“Some 7,082 walk-in consultations have already been carried out – giving patients access to urgent, same-day care – and we will roll this out to many more communities over the weeks and months ahead.
“Our focus is not simply on counting every patient, but on making every patient count. The pilot is just getting started and as it grows we will know more about how it is working.
“But behind every attendance is a person who has received timely assessment, reassurance, treatment or advice that may have improved their experience, supported earlier intervention, or prevented a more serious outcome.
“We have opened ten of the originally planned 16 GP walk-in services in five months and will soon be announcing even more locations as the pilot expands.”
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Dr Iain Morrison, chairman of the BMA’s Scottish GPs committee, told BBC Radio Scotland’s Breakfast programme that doctors had expressed reservations about the walk-in clinics when they were first announced – and it now looked like a case of ‘I told you so’.
He said: “In terms of any pilot it’s important to learn to fail fast. My concern is that we’re not going to learn to close this down when all the evidence suggests that it’s not working. “It’s going to continue to be worked upon, potentially expanded, despite evidence crying out that it’s not having the impact that’s desired.
“The way you improve capacity, to provide as many appointments as are required, is to invest into core services. It’s not to put in additional money into separate services that fail to alleviate the core problem”