BBC Scotland, Aimee Stanton, yesterday claimed, despite revealing the above graph in their own report:

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

and:

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”. He told BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast (RSB): “In terms of any pilot it’s important to learn to fail fast.

“My concern is that we’re not going to learn to close this down when all the evidence suggests that it’s not working.

“It’s going to continue to be worked upon, potentially expanded, despite evidence crying out that it’s not having the impact that’s desired.”

He said it would appear the scheme was more about politics rather than practicality. Morrison said ministers should have learned lessons from a similar scheme introduced in England nearly 20 years ago which, he said, had failed to relieve pressure on other NHS services.

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crmrk48zd9ro

There is so much wrong in the above, so uneducated, so self-centred, so greedy.

First, a reasonable science-based length for a pilot this kind to be meaningful would be at least 12 months and preferably 24 or 36 months after the initial ‘ramp-up period.’ We are still in the ramp-up period with only 10 of the 16 planned centres so far open. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10354383/

Second, learning from the English scheme has limits given the increasingly diverging NHS systems in England and Scotland but, in addition, it is important not to accept the BMA Scotland’s review of the evidence, selected only to back-up their prior views and, shamefully ignoring the work of Professor Chris Salisbury of the University of Bristol who gold-standard research revealed critical positive findings.

Improved access for certain groups: Centres clearly improved access, particularly for young and middle-aged men (historically lower users of traditional general practice) and people seeking care for recent-onset minor illnesses/injuries. Users often attended on the first day of symptoms for reasons of convenience, speed, and no need for an appointment.

High patient satisfaction: Users were generally more satisfied with walk-in centres than with general practice consultations (e.g., adjusted differences of around 6–7 percentage points in satisfaction scores). Care was viewed as high-quality and appropriate by both patients and staff in many assessments. Waiting times were often short and consultation times longer than typical GP appointments.

Safe, appropriate care for minor issues: Quality of care was at least comparable to general practice for the problems presented; most users felt the attendance was appropriate. https://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/primaryhealthcare/migrated/documents/wiceval.pdf

Later patient surveys of GP-led walk-in centres similarly found high satisfaction (86–93% highly or fairly satisfied) and that centres increased access to GP-type care, with many attending because of difficulty seeing their own GP (working hours, closed surgery, or preference for no appointment). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3637583/

There’s a simple message here for BMA Scotland and BBC Scotland – shut-up, wait and try to be ready to report accurately and fairly on behalf of the citizens and taxpayers you owe for your comfortable employment.

Footnote: Aimee Stanton’s portfolio seems to be mostly about events in Whakatāne, New Zealand, perhaps explaining her lack of knowledge of GP walk-in clinics? https://muckrack.com/aimee-stanton/articles

Might BBC Scotland employ someone competent?