BBC Scotland’s Andrew Picken, yesterday, had:

One of the new flagship GP walk-in clinics has seen just 183 patients in its first five weeks, latest figures shows. The facility at Lochee Health Centre in Dundee is part of a network of clinics planned by the Scottish government where patients have access to GP-led care without an appointment. Data released to the BBC under freedom of information laws shows that in the five weeks to 30 April, the Dundee clinic – which is open every day between 12:00 and 20:00 – had 183 people attend.

then only 5 paragraphs later:

But the walk-in clinics have been criticised by both the Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland and BMA Scotland who say the money would be better spent on core general practice.

The other parties contesting the Holyrood election have also made promises on GP services.

Scottish Labour has said it will “bring back the family doctor” and offer the guarantee of a GP appointment within 48 hours if elected.

The Scottish Conservatives, who have been critical of walk-in clinics, have also pledged that everyone will be able to see a GP within 48 hours.

The Scottish Lib Dems have said they will allow patients to use the NHS App to book, move and cancel appointments, while a new pay deal for GPs and expansion of frontline services at GP surgeries is being promised by Reform UK Scotland.

Elsewhere, the Scottish Greens have pledged that there will be one GP for every 1,000 patients. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3w28z78zd8o

Note, there is not one piece of evidence presented to inform the debate on these centres.

So, another combined effort to undermine the top party leader, John Swinney and the SNP.

Are they stupid? Don’t they know this?

Early reporting (including the article you shared) tends to focus on initial queues or teething problems, but health-service pilots usually need months or even years to judge properly. There are a few reasons:

Early demand spikes are normal
New services often attract pent-up demand (“novelty effect”). People who previously couldn’t get appointments all turn up at once, which inflates waiting times initially.

Staffing and processes take time to settle
Walk-in systems need triage protocols, staffing rotas, and patient-flow adjustments. Early inefficiencies are expected.

Evaluation should look at system-wide effects
The key question isn’t just “how long did people wait in this clinic?” but:

Did it reduce pressure on GP practices?

Did it divert patients from A&E?

Did outcomes improve?

There’s also a broader policy point: NHS performance data historically shows that targets and early metrics can distort behaviour or give partial pictures if judged too quickly, especially in complex systems.

https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/research-and-analysis/2017/11/review-targets-indicators-health-social-care-scotland/documents/00527689-pdf/00527689-pdf/govscot%3Adocument/00527689.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com

When did this Dundee centre open? 5 weeks ago!

And perhaps exposing the BBC Scotland agenda, a separate report on the same programme, in the Times, found:

Average wait ~38 minutes at one flagship site

Around 1,600 patients treated: https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/scotlands-first-walk-in-clinic-xwspw6269?utm_source=chatgpt.com