ArticleBMC health services research2013
Patients' experience and satisfaction with GP led walk-in centres in the UK; a cross sectional study.
Article in BMC health services research, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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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.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Willingness to maintain contracts with family doctors among Chinese residents: results from one national cross-sectional study and a meta-analysis of 25 studies.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- A modified walk-in system versus scheduled appointments in a secondary-care prosthetic and orthotic clinic.Prosthetics and orthotics international · 2018Trial
- Satisfaction of patients and healthcare practitioners with the services provided by urgent care centers in Saudi Arabia, 2024: a cross-sectional study.BMC health services research · 2026Article
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- From vision to value: a mixed methods evaluation of patient-centered care in Saudi Arabian primary healthcare centers.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Global scoping review of key domains of patient-reported experience of care measures across life stages and healthcare technical areas.BMJ open · 2026Article
- General Practice-led urgent care practice vs. emergency room - satisfaction of ambulatory patients with low urgency medical problems.The European journal of general practice · 2025Observational
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- Successes and challenges towards improving quality of primary health care services: a scoping review.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Primary Health Care: Our Experience From an Urban Primary Health Care Center in Greece.Cureus · 2023Article
- Patients' experiences of attending emergency departments where primary care services are located: qualitative findings from patient and clinician interviews from a realist evaluation.BMC emergency medicine · 2022Article
- Unmasking legislative constraints: An institutional ethnography of linkage and engagement in HIV healthcare for African, Caribbean, and Black people in Ontario, Canada.PLOS global public health · 2022Article
- Article
- What does the ideal urgent and emergency care system look like? A qualitative study of service user perspectives.Emergency medicine journal : EMJ · 2020Article
- 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
- The impact of general practitioners working in or alongside emergency departments: a rapid realist review.BMJ open · 2019Review
- Staff perceptions on patient motives for attending GP-led urgent care centres in London: a qualitative study.BMJ open · 2016Article
- Patient Experience in an Era of Primary Care Transformation: Revisiting the PACIC.European journal for person centered healthcare · 2016Article
- Perceptions of healthcare professionals and managers regarding the effectiveness of GP-led walk-in centres in the UK.BMJ open · 2015Article
- Innovations to reduce demand and crowding in emergency care; a review study.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2014Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundGP led walk-in centres were established in the UK in 2009. Around 150 such clinics were initially planned to open. Their purpose is to provide a primary health care service to complement the urgent care services provided by Emergency Departments (ED), to reduce unnecessary patient attendance at ED, and to increase accessibility of health care services. The objectives of this study were to determine patient satisfaction and experiences with GP led walk-in centres in the UK.
methodsA survey was conducted in two GP led walk-in centres in the North of England over three weeks during September and October 2011. A self reported, validated questionnaire was used to survey patients presenting at these centres. A short post visit questionnaire was also sent to those who agreed. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from an NHS ethical review committee.
resultsBased on a sample of 1030 survey participants (Centre A = 501; Centre B = 529), we found that 93% of patients were either highly or fairly satisfied with the service at centre A and 86% at centre B. The difference between centres was due to the longer reported waiting times which were seen in centre B. There was no difference in satisfaction between first time users and repeat users (P value = 0.8). Roughly 50% (n = 507) of patients reported that their reason for using the walk-in centre was having GP access without an appointment, and 9% (n = 87) reported that their GP surgery was closed. A further 20% of patients (n = 205) reported that they were not able to see their own GP because of their working hours.In the post visit survey (n = 258), nearly all patients reported complying with the advice given (around 90% at both study centres), and most of the patients (86%) reported their problem had resolved a few days later. In addition, 56% of patients at centre B and 58% at centre A reported that they had also visited another NHS service for the same problem, mostly their own GP (66%).
conclusionsThe GP led walk-in centres increased access to GP care and most of the patients were satisfied with the service.
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