Middleton Walk-in Centre threatened with closure

Middleton Patient Participation Group met with representatives from NHS England and Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group (HMR CCG) last week to hear plans for a review of urgent services offered at the surgery and walk-in centre based in the Middleton Shopping Centre. The CCG have begun patient consultation across the borough to get a view on patient health needs and service provision.

The local HMR CCG has recommended to continue the registered patient list but close the walk-in facility based at the centre, with investment back into local practices to meet urgent care needs.

A spokesperson for Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale CCG said: “The CCG is working in partnership with NHS England to improve and extend access to GP practices seven days a week throughout the borough. This will be in place from the end of December 2015. We will open hubs across the borough and one hub will be in Middleton.

"Patients will be able to book routine appointments at the hubs in advance via their GP surgery or via a central booking telephone line. There will also be a number of urgent ‘on the day’ appointments available at each hub site.

"The hubs will offer GP and practice nurse appointments with an initial triage to ensure patients are seen by the most appropriate clinician. Diagnostic services including routine blood tests will be available at each hub. The hubs will offer a significant number of extra appointment slots each week. The hubs will be open 52 weeks per year with increased capacity available during bank holidays and in periods of significantly increased demand."

Dr David Hankin and Dr Ali Rizvi, who lead the services at Middleton Health Centre, have written to patients this week to update them on the current situation.

“In response to the recommendation to close the Walk-in provision we are launching a petition open to all local residents to save this vital service and ask for a re-think.

"Each year over 24,000 patients use the urgent care facility and an in-house survey showed that over 60% of our walk-in patients would otherwise have gone to A&E. We believe that closing the walk-in provision would reduce local people’s choice, whilst increasing travel time and expenditure to access urgent care.

"We do not believe that proposed alternatives for local GPs to absorb the amount of patients that we see 365 days a year into already stretched services would be sufficient to meet the health needs of the local people."

The petition to Save Middleton Walk-In Centre is available on reception at the surgery or online via:

 https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-middleton-nhs-walk-in-service