GP walk-in clinics see low attendance with some receiving only three patients per day

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.

First Minister John Swinney announced the introduction of walk-in centres in October 2025 with a promise of a million extra GP appointments in a bid to end the 8am rush for a GP.

However, GPs have largely rejected the plan, with the BMA and Royal College of GPs saying the scheme would not work.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton warned the SNP the policy could become a “costly distraction”.

He added: “These figures are even worse than many might have imagined and will have SNP ministers sweating.

“Their plans for more of these centres must now be put on hold while the learning from these first centres is taken seriously.

“It doesn’t make sense to spend millions rolling out more of these while some of the centres that are up and running are seeing as few as three patients a day.

“After 19 years, the SNP cannot be trusted to help staff or patients. This is a party that hired less than one in 10 of the GPs they promised in 2017.”

Dr Chris Provan, chair of the Royal College of GPs Scotland, said Tuesday’s figures “reinforced” the body’s long-held view that walk-in centres would “not meaningfully increase the capacity of general practice to meet the needs of the population”.

He added: “The data shows that the six GP walk-in centres that were fully operational in June delivered approximately 70 patient contacts per day.

“GPs and their teams across Scotland provide around 136,000 patient contacts every weekday.

“While the Scottish Government presents walk-in centres as a solution to difficulties in accessing GP appointments, today’s figures demonstrate their contribution to addressing the capacity challenges facing general practice is minimal.”

Dr Provan said GP walk-in centres had already been “extensively trialled” in England “where they failed to reduce pressure on general practice or emergency departments, along with other unintended consequences”.

He said the clinics only supported a narrower range of services than GP practices and replicated services delivered by the pharmacy first scheme but “at a significantly higher cost”.

The doctor said that if the clinics are proven to provide fewer services at greater cost, then the pilot should be scrapped.

The Health Secretary said the scheme would be “robustly evaluated” by Healthcare Improvement Scotland.

Angela Constance said with 10 clinics out of 30 set up within five months, the scheme was “just getting started”.

She 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 10 of the originally planned 16 GP walk-in services in five months and will soon be announcing even more locations as the pilot expands.”