Access to Services

Health and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee Challenge NHS Manchester over Urgent Care Proposals

Manchester’s Health and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which is chaired by Cllr Eddy Newman, has referred NHS Manchester proposals on urgent care to the Secretary of State, Andrew Langsley.

The proposals if agreed would see the following changes being made to urgent care services across the city:

Wythenshawe Forum walk-in centre would be relocated to Wythenshawe Hospital
Ancoats walk-in centre would be relocated to North Manchester General Hospital
Withington and Burnage walk-in centres would remain closed.

The reason for the referral is that the changes are seen as a substantial variation (large change to service provision) because of:

Changes in accessibility of services – the effect that the relocation of walk-in centres will have on residents whose local centre has been closed and will no longer have access to same day walk-in health care facilities.
Patients affected – the closure of local centres will affect a significant number of Manchester residents across the city.
Methods of service delivery – walk-in services will be delivered from on a hospital site rather than in the local community.

The committee are not opposed to the idea of co–locating walk-in centres to A&E, but do not agree with the closure and relocation of the existing centres. The committee also feel that they are not able to support NHS Manchester proposals until there is evidence of improved same day access being offered across the 102 GP surgeries in Manchester. This could include:
Extended opening times
More appointments and an improvement to the system for getting an urgent same day appointment
Having a phone “triage” system which would be done by qualified health professionals.

Local residents in the affected areas as well as Manchester LINk have also opposed the plans in a written reply to NHS Manchester which raises a number of issues:
The arguments for and against walk-in centres
GP surgeries being able to expand and cope with higher demand
How well urgent care centres will be able to cope with the demand without sending patients straight on to Accident and Emergency.

In response to the referral the Independent Reconfiguration Panel has suggested that NHS Manchester and Manchester Health and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee work together to resolve the issues around same day access to GPs. Full findings of the Independent Reconfiguration Panel here.