Delivering GP walk-in services
Five more centres to open in first 100 days of new government.
A new GP walk-in service will open in the centre of Aberdeen later this month, Health Secretary Angela Constance has announced.
Based within Aberdeen Health Village on Frederick Street, the new clinic will open on 23 June for any member of the public to attend, with no appointment necessary.
The service will be open on a phased basis initially, run by GPs, Advanced Nurse Practitioners and nurses, offering same day care and treatment for minor illnesses.
The Aberdeen city centre site will be the seventh GP walk-in service across Scotland to open since the start of the year, and the first of the five centres the Scottish Government has committed to open in its first 100 days.
Walk-in centres have opened in Edinburgh, Dundee, Western Isles, Stranraer, Lerwick and Hawick in just over four months and speaking on a visit to the site of the Aberdeen GP walk-in service, Health Secretary Angela Constance said:
“The new walk-in centre in the heart of Aberdeen city centre will be an asset to local health services in the area and plans are progressing at pace to welcome patients from the 23rd June.
“We know that accessing GP services on the day, when you need urgent care, can be a source of frustration. That’s why we have opened GP-led walk-in services across the country to support with on the day care to address the ‘8am rush’ and relieve pressure on GP surgeries – freeing up capacity to focus on complex and long-term care.
“We value the key role and expertise that GPs have to play in people’s care. We are underpinning that by increasing investment in general practice by £531 million over three years to significantly boost recruitment from this year, helping to deliver the capacity needed to improve services for patients.”
Emma King, Primary Care Lead for Aberdeen City Health & Social Care Partnership, said:
"We are pleased to welcome the Cabinet Secretary to the Aberdeen GP walk-in centre as we make the final preparations for opening to the public later this month. We are looking forward to getting to work and testing this new approach to improving access to same-day care."
16 GP walk-in services were planned initially, backed by £36 million of investment. Five of these, including the one in Aberdeen, are due to open within the first 100 days of this government.
A process to identify 14 more sites, to a total of 30, is currently underway.
Background
Initial 16 planned GP walk-in sites
Phase One
- Wester Hailes, Edinburgh – NHS Lothian
- Lochee GP Practice, Dundee – NHS Tayside
- Benbecula – NHS Western Isles
- Stranraer – NHS Dumfries and Galloway
- Lerwick – NHS Shetland
- Hawick – NHS Borders
- Invergordon – NHS Highland
- Dunoon – NHS Highland
- Aberdeen – NHS Grampian
- Cardonald, Glasgow – NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
- Moray – NHS Grampian
- Aberdeenshire – NHS Grampian
- Sauchie, Alloa – NHS Forth Valley
Phase Two
- East Ayrshire, NHS Ayrshire and Arran
- Clydesdale, NHS Lanarkshire
- Central Fife, NHS Fife
Locations for an additional 14 additional GP walk-in sites, taking the total number of planned services to 30, will be announced within the first 100 days of the new Scottish Government.