Royal Pharmaceutical Society

Medical groups have written to the Scottish Government to demand the extension is reversed and no additional funding allocated to the clinics in next week's programme for government.

The joint statement from the Royal College of Pharmacy Scotland, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy Scotland and the Royal College of General Practitioners, RCGP, warned the centres were an expensive intervention with a negligible impact on the NHS.

The statement, seen by the Herald, said, We are concerned that they risk undermining our existing services and could lead to unintended consequences across the wider healthcare system.

If more money is allocated to GP walk-in clinics in the programme for government, there are risks the workforce could be destabilised, ministers have been told, with primary care staff working additional hours to cover the centres.