Inverness is set to receive a new GP led walk in service as part of a major expansion of same day healthcare across Scotland.
First Minister John Swinney has announced another 24 areas where work is underway to establish services, bringing the number either planned or already operating across the country to 40.
The Inverness service is among those being developed with health boards, with many of the newly announced centres expected to be capable of opening within a year.
Other communities included in the latest phase include Angus, Dumbarton, East Kilbride, East Renfrewshire, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Glasgow, North Ayrshire, Paisley, Shotts, Tweeddale and West Lothian.
Further proposals are being developed for locations including Oban, giving the expansion another significant Highlands and Islands connection.
The walk in model is designed to give patients access to same day care from GPs, Advanced Nurse Practitioners and other clinicians without requiring a pre booked appointment.
Services are also intended to operate across a wider range of times, providing another route into primary healthcare while reducing pressure elsewhere in the NHS.
The announcement came as Mr Swinney officially opened Scotland’s 11th GP walk in service at Randolph Wemyss Community Hospital in Buckhaven, Fife.
The pilot programme will now be extended until April 2029 as the government continues to test how the model works alongside existing GP practices.
More than 10,500 walk in cases have already been seen during the first six months of the programme.
Mr Swinney said:
“I promised that my government would break from the status quo and introduce a new way for patients to access same day care and we are delivering on that commitment.
“We are listening and want to create more choice for patients, closer to home and without the need for a pre-booked appointment.
“In the first six months since we opened the first service in February, more than 10,500 walk-in cases have been seen.
“As these services are phased in to become fully operational, seven days a week, I am confident that many more people will benefit.
“The opening of our newest GP walk-in service, in Fife, is an important milestone in the roll-out of this pilot project, fulfilling my government’s commitment to open five new walk-in centres within our first 100 days of office.
“We have done this in Aberdeen, Dunoon, Invergordon, Cardonald and Buckhaven.
“This is 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.
“It will complement our trusted network of GP practices across the country, which we are bolstering with historic additional investment to recruit more GPs with £531 million to 2029.”
Invergordon is already among the first five locations opened under the programme, meaning the planned Inverness service would further extend the model across the Highlands.
The next stage will be working with health boards to turn the announced locations into operating services, with the government saying many could begin seeing patients within the coming year.
