Scotland’s GPs say addressing workload and critical staff shortages should take priority over plans for drop-in services announced by the First Minister.
The Royal College of GPs says there are many unanswered questions surrounding the idea announced by John Swinney at the SNP conference.
The First Minister promised to launch 15 walk-in clinics across Scotland, with the first “up and running within the year”.
However, the professional body for Scotland’s frontline doctors said it would prefer a straightforward increase in the amount of money going into normal GP services.
Chris Provan, an Aberdeen GP and chair of Scotland’s Royal College of General Practitioners, also said GPs were not consulted before the First Minister announced his plans.
“When I heard the announcement, there were many questions about who is going to staff these centres, how are they going to be set up, and who is going to fund the premises,” he said.
“We’re as frustrated as patients are when there are difficulties getting GP appointments because of capacity.
He added: “We want to work together with any organisation to improve that, but we would like to look at the evidence of what works.”

Mr Provan said the SNP’s walk-in centre plans have been tried in other places, but have proven to be less cost-effective than normal GP services.
“We would like to see this thought through more and a proper workforce plan going forward,” he said.
“There’s a danger with a limited amount of staff that you actually take staff from existing practices or the out-of-hours service, which would impact them.
“So we need to think through the details of this and how it is actually going to work, and actually, we would see investing in normal GP services as a better way forward.”
Swinney said the walk-in centre plans are aimed at getting more people seen and reducing the “8am rush” for appointments.
However, Scottish Tory shadow health secretary Dr Sandesh Gulhane called the announcement “nothing more than an election stunt” that Swinney will be unable to deliver.
Dr Gulhane, who still works as a GP, accused the First Minister of “magicking up money”, and he has written to Swinney telling him that the new walk-in centres will do nothing to stop the 8am rush for appointments.
“It won’t work here in Scotland,” Dr Gulhane told STV News.
He said the walk-in centres won’t have patient notes available to read, and he said the service will be “nothing more than a glorified walk-in centre”.

“We won’t have GPs seeing people like the First Minister is pretending we will. It’s not going to do what it’s supposed to,” he added.
Health secretary Neil Gray argued that the Scottish Government is working with the Royal College of GPs, with the British Medical Association (BMA), and NHS boards to get the new walk-in services up and running.
“We want to make sure we can make this system work for them and most importantly for the patients we’re seeking to serve,” Gray said.
“We’re looking to ensure we’re providing primary care services and GP services, which are the bedrock of health services, and offering great capacity and flexibility. That’s where this idea is coming from.”
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