Call to pause GP walk-in centre rollout – as some see three patients a day

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By Craig Meighan, PA Media

The Scottish Government has been urged to pause its plans to roll out another 20 GP walk-in clinics after figures showed some centres are seeing as few as three patients a day on average.

The Scottish Government has been urged to pause its plans to roll out another 20 GP walk-in clinics after figures showed some centres are seeing as few as three patients a day on average.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats warned the pilot scheme risks becoming a “costly distraction”.

Figures released on Tuesday revealed the clinic in Dundee had an average of three visits per day, while Benbecula, Hawick and Lerwick had four, six and seven respectively.

The statistics, from Public Health Scotland, showed 6,792 visits were recorded across the pilot walk-in centres between February and the end of June.

The six centres that were open for the entire month of June recorded 2,156 visits.

Public Health Scotland said direct comparisons should not be made because centres have different opening dates, opening hours and eligibility criteria.