Walk-in GP service located at the Princess Royal Hospital to close
A walk-in GP service based in at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford is set to close in July.
Telford & Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group has confirmed it will not renew the contract of Malling Health Wrekin when it runs out.
The decision will be ratified by the CCG’s Primary Care Committee on Tuesday February 7.
The walk-in centre opened in 2009 and also has a registered list of 8,000 patients. A recent survey recommended a £500,000 refurbishment, with replacement within three years costing several million pounds.
Telford & Wrekin CCG and Malling Health Wrekin say they will work together to ensure that all registered patients can register with another GP practice in the local area before the intended closure date at the end of July.
Dr Jo Leahy, Clinical Chair of the CCG said: “We appreciate patients at Malling Health Wrekin will be concerned to hear that the practice will close. However the building housing the practice is in extremely poor condition and is no longer fit for purpose. We cannot justify the cost of replacement when other practices have excellent premises and can take additional patients.
“We also feel that the Walk In service is not fulfilling the purpose it was intended for, which is to provide access to a GP for people who are not registered with a GP locally or who could not get an urgent same-day appointment with a local practice with which they are registered. We believe that reinvesting the resources in existing local GP services will provide better value and benefit patients.
“We now intend to work towards a smooth transition of services with other GP practices locally and are totally committed to ensuring everyone has access to a GP. This work will include developing appropriate access to GPs for all patients including those not registered with a GP locally. We have already consulted with local patients and we know that this is what most want.”
