THE effect of the Scottish government’s flagship walk-in clinics on struggling GP practices has been “minimal,” according to medics.

Despite medics’ opposition, the pilot scheme got underway in February after First Minister John Swinney’s October 2025 pledge to offer one million more GP appointments and end the 8am rush for appointments.

New Public Health Scotland figures show the clinics saw 6,792 visits between February and June, with Dundee seeing an average of just three a day.

Unimpressed Royal College of GPs Scotland chair Dr Chris Provan said: “The data shows that the six GP walk-in centres that were fully operational in June delivered approximately 70 patient contacts per day.

“GPs and their teams across Scotland provide around 136,000 patient contacts every weekday.

“While the Scottish government presents walk-in centres as a solution to difficulties in accessing GP appointments, today’s figures demonstrate their contribution to addressing the capacity challenges facing general practice is minimal.”

Scottish Health Secretary Angela Constance insisted the scheme was “just getting started,” adding: “Our focus is not simply on counting every patient, but on making every patient count.”