SynthesisThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2003
Walk-in centres in primary care: a review of the international literature.
Synthesis in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2003. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 70 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic review of recent innovations in service provision to improve access to primary care.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2004Pooled it
- Avoidable visits to the paediatric emergency department: associated factors and lessons learned from the pandemic.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
- Designed for simplicity, used for complexity: The systemic pressures shaping walk-in clinic practices and outcomes.PloS one · 2025Article
- Article
- Access to episodic primary care: a cross-sectional comparison of walk-in clinics and urgent primary care centers in British Columbia.Primary health care research & development · 2023Article
- Association between Primary Care Utilization and Emergency Room or Hospital Inpatient Services Utilization among the Middle-Aged and Elderly in a Self-Referral System: Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study 2011-2018.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Evaluation of a healthcare walk-in centre in an immigrant-dense area from the perspective of Swedish-born patients.Primary health care research & development · 2021Article
- A Value-Based Comparison of the Management of Ambulatory Respiratory Diseases in Walk-in Clinics, Primary Care Practices, and Emergency Departments: Protocol for a Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study.JMIR research protocols · 2021Article
- Translating 'See-and-Treat' to primary care: opening the gates does not cause a flood.International journal for quality in health care : journal of the International Society for Quality in Health Care · 2019Article
- [Concept analysis: Nurse demand management].Atencion primaria · 2019Article
- Patients satisfaction in an academic walk-in centre: a new model of residents training achieved by family doctors.BMC research notes · 2014Article
- Effect of Ramadan fasting on emergency walk-in-clinics in Jordan.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2014Article
- Community-based urgent care in Israel and worldwide.Israel journal of health policy research · 2013Article
- A program of nurse algorithm-guided care for adult patients with acute minor illnesses in primary care.BMC family practice · 2013Article
- Association of over-the-counter pharmaceutical sales with influenza-like-illnesses to patient volume in an urgent care setting.PloS one · 2013Article
- Stakeholder perceptions of a nurse led walk-in centre.BMC health services research · 2012Article
- Emergency department crowding: time for interventions and policy evaluations.Emergency medicine international · 2012Article
- The impact of advanced practice nursing in healthcare: recipe for developing countries.Annals of neurosciences · 2012Article
- [An approach to acute diseases using a nursing practice guide].Atencion primaria · 2008Article
- A new direction for NHS community services.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2006Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Nurse-led walk-in centres were first announced in April 1999. They represent a new development in unscheduled care provision in the United Kingdom (UK) National Health Service (NHS). By the end of 2000, 40 NHS walk-in centres had been opened, with further centres recently announced. This paper aims to review international experience with walk-in centres in primary and emergency care and identify relevant lessons for the UK. This study is a systematic review, with qualitative synthesis of relevant findings. Studies were identified from seven major bibliographic databases using a sensitive search strategy, and 244 relevant documents relating to walk-in or 'ambulatory care' centres were identified. Users of walk-in centres in other countries tend to be a relatively affluent population of working age, and a different population from those using conventional general practice services. Walk-in centres are used particularly when other health services are closed. The problems presented are mainly minor illnesses and minor injuries. People choose this form of care mainly for reasons of convenience, and satisfaction with the service is generally high. The very limited evidence available suggests that walk-in centres provide care of reasonable quality, but there is insufficient evidence to draw firm conclusions about the impact of walk-in centres on other healthcare services or the costs of such care. Although a number of countries have had a long experience of walk-in centres, the lack of reliable evidence on many of the most important issues is notable. In the NHS, walk-in centres represent a radically innovative attempt to improve access to health care, but the limited research available does little to inform their development. Important questions that need to be addressed include whether walk-in centres do improve access to care, for whom, and at what overall cost.
Indexed as
Identifiers
12564280PMC1314495W1880066812What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.