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A pilot of GP-led walk-in services across Scotland could create confusion among patients about where their first port of call should be, the Royal College of Pharmacy (RCPharm) Scotland has said.
In a joint statement published on 27 August 2026, RCPharm Scotland, alongside the Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy Scotland, said that the walk-in centres “risk destabilising established local services” and could result in “service duplication”.
“Community pharmacies across Scotland already provide a wide range of walk-in services that closely mirror those offered by walk-in GP centres,” the statement said.
“Significant effort has gone into promoting Pharmacy First to patients over the years, and we are concerned that the pilot will create confusion.”
On 26 August 2026, the Scottish government announced 24 areas that were due to receive new GP walk-in services, as well as 16 that have been already opened or have been “in delivery” since February 2026.
The Scottish government added that the pilots are a way of “testing new ways of accessing same-day care from GPs, advanced nurse practitioners or other clinicians at a wider range of times”.
“They have been designed to provide more choice for patients while helping to relieve pressure on wider NHS services,” it added.
John Swinney, the first minister for Scotland, said that the plans are “part of my government’s wider agenda to provide patients with greater choice and access to care closer to home — in turn relieving pressure on hospitals and acute services”.
In response, the joint statement said: “Through Pharmacy First, care is available at more than 1,200 locations across Scotland at a cost of approximately £7.5m.”
In comparison, the initial 16 walk-in GP centres are estimated to cost £36m, “which represents a significantly more expensive service that duplicates existing provision”, the joint statement continued.
It added that the walk-in centres could exacerbate health inequalities, as they are disproportionately used 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”.
This is in contrast to community pharmacies, which are often more concentrated in areas of greater deprivation and healthcare need, the statement noted.
It said: “Health inequalities remain deeply entrenched in Scotland, and there is a real risk that this approach could widen, rather than reduce, existing inequalities in access to care and health outcomes.”
Commenting alongside the response, Laura Wilson, director for Scotland at RCPharm, said: “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.”
“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,” she added.
