GP walk-in clinics see low attendance leading to accusations of failure

Walk-in centres were introduced in Scotland to ease pressures on the existing GP service

A series of walk-in GP clinics which the Scottish government said would end the "8am rush" for appointments have seen low attendance rates, first figures show.

Public Health Scotland data, external records that just over 2,000 patients were seen across six centres last month.

GP leaders in Scotland, who previously argued that money would be better spent on core services, urged ministers to accept the scheme was failing.

Health Secretary Angela Constance said she was encouraged by the "developments we have made thus far", stressing that the pilot programme was still "in the early stages".

The Scottish government plans to establish 30 walk-in clinics to ease pressures on GP surgeries.

Announcing the plans at the SNP conference last October, First Minister John Swinney said they would eventually deliver "over one million additional GP and nurse appointments" per year.

At the end of June nine centres were open, of which six had been operational for the full month of June and able to provide data on attendance levels.

In total just under 7,000 patients had been seen between the opening of the first centre on 10 February 2026 and the end of June 2026.

The figures show the Edinburgh walk-in clinic in Wester Hailes was the busiest in June seeing almost 850 patients - around 28 patients each day, followed by Stranraer with just over 730, and Lerwick with just over 220.

Hawick, which had to close earlier this month due to "temporary staffing pressures", saw less than 180 patients in June, while Lochee and Benecula both saw less than 100 patients each.

Most clinics are only open to patients registered to nearby doctors surgeries and there are limits on the services they can provide. Centres also have different opening hours and patient criteria.

The attendance data is measured by "cases" - a patient's single encounter with the walk-in centre service - and "consultations", which is an interaction between the patient and a healthcare professional.

A patient can have more than one case at a centre in a month and potentially have more than one consultation on the same visit to a centre within the same case.

Figures are available for six walk-in clinics and can be viewed in the chart below.

Dr Iain Morrison, chairman of the BMA's Scottish GPs committee, said 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".

"My concern is that we're not going to learn to close this down when