A Newcastle walk-in centre that has been shut due to staffing shortages may never reopen, it is feared.
The Westgate Road Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) has been temporarily closed since November last year, with health bosses reporting that there are simply not enough GPs or nurse practitioners to keep it running. NHS chiefs have already decided to keep the facility, which is at the old Newcastle General Hospital site, shut until at least the end of September.
But, with staffing problems showing no sign of being resolved, councillors have questioned the long-term future of the walk-in centre. Liberal Democrat Wendy Taylor told a meeting of Newcastle City Council’s health scrutiny committee on Thursday that it seemed “very unlikely” that it could ever reopen.
Read More: Newcastle walk-in centre to stay shut until September as 'significant' staff shortages continue
Joe Corrigan, of the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board, replied: “If it is closed because of workforce challenges, genuinely I don’t know when that position is going to change. It has been going on for three years.”
Prior to its closure last November, the number of GP shifts being covered at the Westgate Road site had dipped as low as 63%. That led to a decision to focus instead on the city’s two other UTCs, in Cowgate and Byker, in the hope of providing a more reliable service.
Mr Corrigan said there had only been a “marginal” improvement to GP staffing levels since. But bosses believe that the impact on patients in Newcastle’s west end has not been too damaging, saying it has resulted in an average six people per day who would have gone to Westgate Road not getting medical treatment – with the remainder going to either the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI), or the UTCs at Ponteland Road and Molineux Street.
However, the committee was also told of early-stage plans that could reshape the city’s health services. Bas Sen, associate medical director at the RVI, spoke of his hopes of introducing a model whereby a walk-in centre could be located next door to an emergency department, making it much easier for patients to access the right services if they are unsure where to attend.
That could mean a new walk-in centre opening next to the Royal Victoria Infirmary, though Mr Sen admitted this was an “aspirational” target for now. He added: “What we have is a system that is creaking and a system that is unable to recover unless we change.”
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