BMJ  2007;334:808-809 (21 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.39169.475405.80

Editorials

NHS walk-in centres

Do not have a meaningful impact on the demand for general practice

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

National Health Service walk-in centres were introduced in England in 2000. They are primarily led by nurses, have long opening hours, and provide advice and treatment for minor illnesses and injuries. NHS walk-in centres are intended to improve access to primary care and to reduce pressure on other providers of health care, such as general practices.¹ A paper in this week's BMJ by Maheswaran and colleagues looks at whether they have achieved this second aim.²

Maheswaran and colleagues conducted an ecological study to determine whether proximity to a walk-in centre was associated with general practices meeting the NHS access target to offer an appointment within 48 hours. Using a series of sophisticated models, they found no evidence that walk-in centres led to shorter waits in general practice.² This is consistent with several earlier studies, which found no impact of walk-in centres on consultation rates at other healthcare providers.^{3 4 5}

The underlying . . . [Full text of this article]

University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2AA

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