Edinburgh's Wester Hailes has Scotland's busiest walk-in GP centre as Scottish Government urged to pause plans for more
“These figures are even worse than many might have imagined” - Alex Cole-Hamilton
Edinburgh's walk-in GP centre at Wester Hailes is the busiest of all the centres established so far under the Scottish Government's flagship health initiative.
Figures published by the government show the Wester Hailes centre - which was the first to open - has seen more than 3,500 patients in the five months since it was launched.
The centres are intended to make it easier for people to see a GP, offering same-day care without the need for an appointment.
But the statistics revealed that attendances at some of the centres had been low. The one in Dundee, at Lochee, saw just three patients a day last month; the one on Benbecula in the Western Isles had four; Hawick in the Borders six; and Lerwick in Shetland seven. The Wester Hailes centre's 846 patients in June works out at 28 a day; and Stranraer had 24.
Scottish Lib Dem leader and Edinburgh North Western MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton called on the government to pause the roll-out of any more walk-in centres, saying he had always been sceptical of the scheme.
He said: “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."
He paid tribute to "the hard working staff at these facilities". But he said: "This was always a pre-election gimmick and while Wester Hailes seems to be making a good fist of it, as the professional bodies in the health sector have said, this is a poor use of money and will not fix the problem."
Scottish Tory health and care spokesman Miles Briggs, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, said: “John Swinney sold walk-in GP centres as the answer to beating the 8am rush for appointments, but they are already being exposed as a flop.
“Ministers have repeatedly ignored warnings from GPs that this policy would be ineffective and do nothing to ease the pressure on them."
Dr Chris Provan, chair of the Royal College of GPs Scotland, said the figures showed the walk-in centres' contribution to addressing the capacity challenges facing general practice was "minimal”.
He said GP walk-in centres had already been “extensively trialled” in England “where they failed to reduce pressure on general practice or emergency departments".
And 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”.
Health Secretary Angela Constance emphasised that the walk-in scheme was a pilot programme and still in its early stages.
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.
“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."
* The walk-in GP centre at Wester Hailes Healthy Living Centre, 30 Harvesters Way, is open from noon until 8pm every day.
NHS Lothian says it is not suitable for pregnant patients, or children under 5 and is not for medical emergencies; minor injuries such as sprains or minor burns; long-term or pre-diagnosed conditions; sick notes; or travel vaccinations.
Only patients registered with GP eight practices in southwest Edinburgh are eligible to use the service: Gilmore Medical Practice, Leven Medical Practice, Sighthill Green Medical Practice, Sighthill Red Medical Practice, Slateford Medical Practice, Springwell Medical Practice, Whinpark Medical Practice, and Wester Hailes Medical Practice.