Walk-in medical unit planned for hospital

May 2 2008 Chester Chronicle

PATIENTS in Cheshire will be given more choice thanks to a pioneering 24-hour walk-in medical centre planned for a county hospital.

Proposals for an innovative ‘Urgent Care Centre’, which is set to run alongside the existing Accident and Emergency department at Leighton Hospital in Crewe, are under way with health chiefs predicting a May 2009 opening.

The new development, which is being led by Central and Eastern Cheshire NHS Primary Care Trust (PCT), is part of the Government’s plans to ensure that each PCT area has a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week walk-in centre.

Jerry Hawker, associate director for the Urgent Care Centre at Central and Eastern Cheshire PCT, said it has already started the tendering process in a bid to find health care providers and is in talks with Leighton Hospital bosses.

“The whole aim is to make it simpler and easier for the public and patients to access both emergency and urgent care services”, said Mr Hawker.

He said an “improved” service with the centre open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, would serve Crewe and surrounding areas.

“We are also working out how much it is going to cost,” he added

Mr Hawker said the plans are not about changing the “very good” work of A&E departments or GP services already on offer, but enhancing the current service by making more facilities available for patients and the public.

“The A&E departments in hospitals are really for managing emergency situations. A lot of the time you may have a health concern and would ideally like to see a GP but if it was out of hours you could consider going to the new drop-in centre and be seen to immediately, without having to book an appointment.”

Mr Hawker said the everyone throughout Central and Eastern Cheshire will be able to access the drop-in-centre in Crewe, as well as the one earmarked for Macclesfield.”