By the end of this year there will be 19 NHS walk-in care centres in England, where people will be able to receive advice and treatment without an appointment. Many will be open from early morning to late evening, seven days a week.
Earlier this year, the health secretary, Mr Frank Dobson, announced that £280m ($448m) would be allocated over three years for walk-in centres and for expansion of NHS Direct, a nurse led, 24 hour telephone helpline (24 April, p 1097). The first 19 bids have now been approved, and the successful projects will receive £15.4m this year.
One centre will be based in purpose built healthcare facilities in Manchester Airport. It will be led by nurses and will provide self care and management of minor ailments, advice about safety on holiday, and care of young and elderly people. Another centre will be based in a health centre on a supermarket site in Norwich. Peterborough will have a centre in the High Street. Staffed by nurses, it will have email links with local GP practices to help ensure continuity of care. A walk-in centre, a GP out of hours centre, NHS Direct, a minor injuries service, an eye casualty and an emergency admissions unit, and a 24 hour community pharmacy and dental clinic are planned for a site at Sheffield Hallamshire Hospital. The walk-in centre will be staffed by nurses and managed by the GP out of hours cooperative.
The Department of Health estimates that the centres will cover about six million people. A key requirement of any bid was that it had the backing of the local GP led primary care group. A further wave of successful applicants will be announced in the autumn.
Mr Dobson said: "These centres will offer a service to the public, when the pubic need and where the public need it." He emphasised that they would not replace list based general practice. "They supplement and complement it.
The BMA wants the centres to be evaluated before further NHS money is committed to the scheme. Earlier this month the association's annual meeting criticised the haste with which the centres have been introduced (17 July, p 193). The chairman of the General Practitioners Committee, Dr John Chisholm, said: "Doctors are worried that the walk-in centres may increase unnecessary demand rather than meeting appropriate need. The government is spending millions of pounds on these untried and untested centres at a time when every part of the health service is strapped for cash."
