Royal College of Pharmacy issues joint statement on GP walk-in centres

The Royal College of Pharmacy in Scotland has today issued a joint statement setting out our concerns about the roll out of GP walk in centres across Scotland, alongside our colleagues at Royal College of General Practitioners in Scotland and Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. Our organisations represent members who are deeply committed to ensuring that patients can access the right care, from the right professional, at the right time, and that they receive the highest possible standard of care. However, as a collective we do not believe that GP walk-in centres are the solution to current access challenges in primary care. Alongside general practice, community pharmacies across Scotland already provide a wide range of walk-in services that closely mirror those offered by walk-in GP centres. Significant effort has gone into promoting Pharmacy First and Community Pharmacies to patients over the years, and we are concerned that the pilot will create confusion about where a patient’s first port of call should be. Through Pharmacy First care is available at more than 1,200 locations across Scotland at a cost of approximately £7.5 million. By comparison, the initial 16 walk-in GP centres are estimated to cost £36 million. This represents a significantly more expensive service that duplicates existing provision. Furthermore, evidence also suggests that walk-in GP centres can exacerbate health inequalities. Such services are often used disproportionately by people who are generally healthier, more affluent, and more able to navigate healthcare options, frequently for conditions that are self-limiting and may not have required medical intervention. Community pharmacies buck the inverse care law because their distribution is heavily concentrated in high-deprivation neighbourhoods where health needs are greatest. Rather than investing in walk-in GP centres, resources could be directed towards a range of proven measures that would improve access, strengthen existing services, and support higher-quality patient care. From a community pharmacy perspective, the College would like to see investment in a digital and interoperable shared patient record so that all community pharmacists have access to the necessary information that they need to support clinical decision making. We, alongside our General Practice and Physiotherapy colleagues, are fully committed to improving both the speed and quality of patient access to healthcare services. However, we do not believe that walk-in GP centres are the solution to this complex and multifaceted issue. Instead, we believe the Programme for Government 26/27 should focus on the measures outlined above to deliver more meaningful and lasting improvements for patients, clinicians and the wider health system. Director for Scotland at the Royal College of Pharmacy Laura Wilson, speaking about the joint statement, said: “As a group of Royal Colleges and professional bodies, we are fully committed to improving access to and quality of primary care services, so patients can see the right healthcare professional at the right time, and right place. “Community pharmacies across Scotland are based on local high streets and in other community spaces. These services have high footfall and already provide a wide range of walk-in services for typical conditions such as urinary tract infections, respiratory and chest infections, ear, nose, and throat issues, skin conditions, and eye infections. "GP walk in centres duplicate this offering and have the potential to divert a significant amount of resources away from where they are needed most. From a health inequalities perspective, Community pharmacies buck the inverse care law because their distribution is heavily concentrated in high-deprivation neighbourhoods where health needs are greatest. “Instead of investing to duplicate resource, we would prefer to see investment directed into revolutionising the existing primary care offering; including by creating interoperable digital systems which allow for patient information to be shared with community pharmacy teams so that pharmacists have access to all the information required to be able to effectively treat patients in the community.” Read more news stories.