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In the Daily Record today from Paul Hutcheon:

A top medic has claimed the SNP Government’s new GP walk-in centres will widen inequalities by attracting wealthier patients. Dr Chris Provan also said the new policy is “unworkable”, “more costly” and will not solve the 8am lottery for appointments.…He said the experience of walk-in centres in England shows they are “more expensive to run” than normal general practice, due to a reliance on locums.

^{https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/gp-walk-clinincs-widen-inequalities-36789077}

Leaving aside that a doctor’s union rep is not a ‘top doctor’, comprehensive evidence from a 2014 UK government-commissioned review of walk-in centres paints a different picture. Based on patient surveys (n=1,886 across 20 centres), usage was highest among lower socioeconomic groups (e.g., 36% from the lowest social grades DE, compared to higher grades), women (59%), and younger adults (16-45 years old). Centres were often located in deprived areas (28% in the 10% most deprived per the Index of Multiple Deprivation), served unregistered patients (up to 50% at some sites, often from lower SES), and reached hard-to-reach populations like ethnic minorities, homeless individuals, and those with barriers to traditional GP registration.

^{https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a750a5be5274a59fa716ed2/WalkInCentreFinalReportFeb14.pdf}

A 2015 area-level analysis of geographical accessibility to general practice services in England found a “positive primary care law,” where more deprived areas had better access to GP premises (98.2% of the population in the most deprived decile lived within a 20-minute walk, vs. 81.2% in the most affluent.

^{https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/5/5/e007328}

The evidence used by Hutcheon and Provan, after analysis, has clear methodological weaknesses compared to the more robust 2014 government-commissioned review. These limitations include small or incomplete samples, reliance on unstructured or routine data, observational designs without controls, and indirect or absent assessments of socioeconomic status (SES), which reduce their reliability for drawing firm conclusions on inequalities. This confirms that Hutcheon is no ‘top journalist’ and Provan only has an undergraduate degree absent even a wee a research methods module.

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