The University of Aberdeen and NHS Grampian have opened the doors of a new, first of its kind, General Practice and Mental Health Teaching Centre in Aberdeen.
Based in a purpose-built educational facility within the University’s Health Sciences Building at Foresterhill, Aberdeen, the Centre has welcomed its first cohort of final year medical students and has already seen hundreds of patients attend the clinic.
Different from a walk-in centre where people self-refer, patients will be invited to attend the Centre by their GP or mental health team where they will be given an appointment to attend the Centre on the same day.
The Centre is designed to look and function like a modern GP practice and will deliver thousands of additional patient appointments in Aberdeen each year - relieving some of the pressure on GP practices and other local services. Fully staffed, the Centre has enabled the creation of four full-time GP posts, a Consultant Psychiatrist post and several support staff.
The Centre provides assessment and treatment for health problems that need attention within 1-2 days and is not suitable for routine appointments, accessing, reviewing or changing repeat prescriptions, long-term condition management, medical certificates such as fit notes or for ongoing GP care.
Established in response to growing medical student numbers at the University of Aberdeen, in addition to benefiting patients, the centre will create more student placement opportunities in GP clinics and in Psychiatry.
Final year medical students will see the patients under the direct supervision of GP tutors and Consultant Psychiatrists, gaining experience in listening, taking history, examining patients and presenting their clinical reasoning.
NHS Grampian’s executive medical director, Hugh Farrow Bishop said: "The General Practice and Mental Health Teaching Centre provides a unique opportunity for patients to contribute directly to the education of future doctors of all types - for whom general practice and psychiatry experience are vital parts of their developing skills. This centre will allow them to do this through supervised clinical consultations.
"Patients will be invited to attend through established General Practice and Mental Health pathways, with participating practices and clinical teams identifying individuals who may wish to take part.
"Participation is entirely voluntary.
"Students will assess the patient and present their findings to the supervising clinician, who will review the patient as required, authorise the clinical assessment and management plan, and retain responsibility for all clinical decisions. Consultations will be recorded using NHS Grampian clinical systems, with relevant information and any required follow up communicated to the patient's registered practice or responsible clinical team."
Professor David Blackbourn, Head of the School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition at the University of Aberdeen said: “The opening of this UK‑first GP and Mental Health Teaching Centre marks a major milestone for medical education in Aberdeen and across the country.
“As student numbers continue to rise nationally, universities must find new and innovative ways to ensure every future doctor receives the high‑quality, supervised clinical experience required under GMC standards. This Centre allows us to do exactly that.
"Working alongside existing General Practice and Mental Health services, the Teaching Centre will provide students with valuable supervised clinical experience while creating additional opportunities for patient engagement in education. It complements the wide range of placements that students undertake across Scotland, ensuring they continue to learn in diverse real-world healthcare settings while supporting local services and workforce development.
“By creating a dedicated, fully equipped teaching environment that mirrors a modern GP practice, we can provide thousands of additional patient appointments each year while giving students meaningful, face‑to‑face experience with real patients. It is an approach that strengthens learning, supports GP practices and Psychiatry services, and ensures our graduates are confident, capable and ready for the realities of clinical practice.
“The University of Aberdeen has a long and proud history of innovation in medical education, and we are delighted to continue that tradition with a model that is the first of its kind in the UK.
"Working in close partnership with NHS Grampian, we are helping to build the GP and psychiatry workforce Scotland needs, while setting a new national benchmark for how universities and health systems can collaborate to deliver outstanding clinical training.”
The Teaching Centre is a partnership between the University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen City Health & Social Care Partnership and NHS Grampian. It is financed with NHS Scotland Medical Additional Cost of Teaching (ACT) funding.
Aberdeen City Health & Social Care Partnership Chief Officer Fiona Mitchelhill added: “We have been delighted to partner with the University of Aberdeen and NHS Grampian on this exciting venture. The groundbreaking new GP and mental health teaching centre is a first for Aberdeen and a trailblazing initiative in Scotland as a whole and all of the partners can be very proud of what has been achieved.
“More than 250 patients have already been seen in teaching consultations since the opening, and the centre has the potential to offer thousands of extra teaching consultations for patients each year. This will help to relieve some of the pressure on our hard-pressed GPs, mental health practitioners and other services across Grampian. Patients will benefit from the access to same-day appointments following referral by primary care practitioners – and medical students will gain so much professionally from their experience in a teaching centre which looks and feels like a GP practice.
“The centre will help launch the careers of the next generation of front-line primary care practitioners and will be a valuable asset for the city, the region, and indeed for the whole country.”