Swinney announces network of 15 walk-in GP centres to open ‘within the year’

A network of walk-in GP centres will be opened across Scotland, the First Minister has announced.

Speaking at the SNP conference in Aberdeen, John Swinney said his party would end the era of the 8am rush, where patients call practices in the hope of getting an appointment.

The policy will start with 15 centres across the country to test their efficacy, with the first to be opened in the next 12 months.

The PA news agency understands the cost for the first 15 could be about £30 million, with no maximum number of centres in the long term.

Staffed by GPs and nurses, the facilities will be open seven days a week from noon to 8pm to increase the number of GP appointments by one million.

But the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) said it was concerned the change would not address issues facing the profession, namely a lack of staff and “unmanageable workload”.

“We want to make it easier for you to see a GP – where and when it works for you,” he told delegates.

“That is why I can announce today that this SNP Government will open a nationwide network of walk-in GP services.

“Based in your community, on your local high street, near your child’s school, or close to your workplace.

“They will break from the status quo, they will add to the care we already value.”

He added: “This is just the start. We will expand this network, but it will begin with 15 sites across Scotland.

“They will deliver over 1,000,000 additional GP and nurse appointments, and the first will be up and running within the year.

“That is personalised care, on your doorstep.

“That is self-government working, That’s the SNP Government working for Scotland.”

In next year’s Holyrood election, the First Minister said he was seeking a “personal mandate” to overhaul Scotland.

Describing the SNP as “Scotland’s true radicals”, the First Minister said: “When I lead the SNP into the election next year, I will be seeking my own mandate from the people of Scotland.

“A mandate to fundamentally transform our country for the long term.

“I will continue to be a leader who listens in order to lead.”

Mr Swinney also announced that the Scottish Government would become visa sponsors for people seeking to go to Scotland to work in social care, which will cost £600,000.

“We will sponsor these skilled staff so they can work, pay tax and help keep Scotland’s care homes running.

“Hundreds of dedicated workers, able to start work immediately.

“Scotland’s older people must not pay the price for Westminster’s prejudice.”

A “simple and stark choice” faces the people of Scotland in the next election, the First Minister told the conference, as he touted the need for international co-operation

“In this era of enormous global change, where the world has become so much smaller and technology advancing at such a rate, it is clear that co-operation to tackle the great challenges of the day is needed more than ever.

“And that, my friends, is the simple and stark choice facing Scotland.

“We choose not Westminster government, we choose self-government, we choose not isolationism, we choose internationalism.

“Never an island of strangers, always a continent of friends.”

Dr Iain Morrison, chairman of BMA Scottish General Practitioners Committee, said: “Restoring funding and shifting the balance of care to general practice will provide the foundations from which we can look to a brighter future for our practices and patients, however we cannot afford to see essential resources lost into pilot schemes with limited potential.

“We know walk-in centres used elsewhere in the UK have not demonstrated good value for money, it is clear that resources must be directed into core, essential services, such as general practice, to deliver the NHS service in Scotland that people deserve and want.

“We are happy to continue a dialogue with the Scottish Government on how best this can be achieved once we see details of this proposal.”

Commenting on the SNP announcement of a new network of walk-in GP services, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, Dr Chris Provan, said: “GPs are as frustrated as their patients when there are difficulties in accessing a GP appointment.

“Promises to improve patient access must be meaningful. Emphasis on speed and convenience of access simply risks fragmenting and driving down the quality of care for patients.

“Our concern is that this proposal does not address the major barriers to good access – critical workforce shortages and unmanageable workload.

“While there has been a modest increase in whole-time equivalent GPs over the past year, Scotland still has fewer GPs today than it did a decade ago. This is the fundamental problem.

“GPs will have serious concerns about the delivery and impact of this proposal, and we will await clarity on the implementation detail.

“Who will staff these new services and their extended, weekend hours? How will continuity of care be preserved, when patients benefit enormously from knowing and trusting their regular GP? Where will these services be located, when many GP practice premises are not fit for purpose and are waiting for long overdue capital investment?

“The best way to deliver improved patient access and care would be to provide the level of investment needed to overcome the impact of cumulative years of underfunding and the implementation of a long-term workforce strategy to increase the number of GPs.

“Only then can we offer the quality access and continuity of care that patients deserve.”