Walk-in GP clinics may add one million appointments, government says

Scotland has opened the first of 16 walk-in GP clinics in a £34m one-year pilot, and the Scottish government says the programme aims to deliver one million extra GP and nurse appointments over a year when fully operational.

The first of 16 new walk-in GP clinics in Scotland has opened as part of a £34m one-year pilot intended to provide same-day, non-emergency care without appointments. The Scottish government has stated the programme aims to deliver one million extra GP and nurse appointments over a year once all sites are running. The pilot includes sites ranging from an Edinburgh health centre to remote island locations and is designed to ease pressure on primary care access. BBC analysis and some clinicians say the one-million figure needs context and will depend on when and how each site comes onstream. Key details: - The pilot covers 16 clinics; the first is at Wester Hailes Healthy Living Centre in Edinburgh. - Most centres are expected to operate daily, commonly between 12:00 and 20:00, and will treat non-emergency same-day problems only. - The project is funded at about £34m for one year and the government has linked the aim of one million extra appointments to a fully operational year across all sites. - The Edinburgh clinic is initially limited to patients registered with eight local practices (around 7% of NHS Lothian patients) and excludes pregnant women and children under five for this phase. - Indicative capacities vary: NHS Lothian described up to 60 patients a day at the Edinburgh site (about 21,360 a year), while NHS Grampian's bid document plans about 90,720 slots annually across three sites. - Officials have said bespoke reporting will track clinic attendance, but these measures will not be directly comparable to existing Public Health Scotland "encounter" figures. Summary: The pilot introduces walk-in access at a small number of sites while the government frames the scheme as a way to expand same-day primary care capacity. Whether the clinics deliver one million additional GP and nurse appointments depends on when all sites open and on each clinic's operating capacity and staffing; the specific timings and outcomes are undetermined at this time.