By Tadhg Enright, Sky News Correspondent
More than 50 NHS walk-in centres have closed over the past three years, according to a report by a health regulator.
Monitor, the NHS watchdog for England, has blamed problems on the way the nurse-led clinics are funded and warned that further closures could undermine the equality of healthcare provision in the communities affected.
Monitor's Catherine Davies told Sky News: "A lot of patients attending walk-in centres are also registered with GPs and so when patients choose to attend a walk-in centre instead of their GP practice, the commissioner of care in their area is, in effect, having to pay twice."
Walk-in centres were launched eight years ago as an alternative to GP and A&E care.
Most are open from early morning until late at night, seven days a week with no appointment necessary.
Nurse practitioners treat patients for minor illnesses and injuries and GPs are often available at times when nearby practices are closed.
Sky News visited a centre in Teddington and met Sophie Gallagher, a secondary school student who injured her wrist in a hockey game.
She said: "When I've been to Kingston A&E it took a lot longer. This place is more efficient and you get through a lot quicker."
Ms Gallagher was treated by a nurse practitioner who arranged for her to have an X-ray at the centre.
Advanced Nurse practitioner Inge Kievit Monitor has found that of 238 walk-in centres which opened over the past decade, only 185 remain.
Its research suggests they are popular with young adults, women and people from vulnerable social groups such as the homeless, who cannot register with a local GP.
It also found some care commissioners were concerned some patients were using the service to treat ailments that did not require professional attention.
But out of 2,000 patients who were asked by Monitor what they would do if their walk-in centre closed, only 8% said they would try to treat themselves at home.
Some 21% said they would attend A&E and a further 34% would see their GP.
Teddington's walk-in centre cares for around 48,000 patients every year.
Advanced Nurse Practitioner Inge Kievit said: "If you look at this particular walk-in centre and the amount of people that we see, where would people go? And how are GP practices and A&E departments supposed to cope with the amount of people if you take walk-in centres away?"
Monitor suggests that to preserve walk-in centres, the NHS might need to re-examine the funding model for GP practices, because it pays them to have patients registered at their practices and it also pays the centres for each attendee.
Health Minister Lord Howe said: "Patients should be able to access good-quality out-of-hours NHS services without having to go to an A&E. Walk-in centres may be part of the answer but this isn't a one-size-fits-all solution.
"Family GPs, community services and pharmacists all have a part to play and it's good that Monitor is looking at how walk-in centres fit in."
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