Fresh calls for urgent care centre for Hinckley
NHS plans for a new urgent care centre in the Blaby District have prompted fresh calls for a similar centre in Hinckley.
The Blaby Urgent Care Centre will open in April next year providing appointments when GP practices are closed.
Bosses at the East Leicestershire and Rutland Clinical Commissioning Group have chosen Enderby Leisure Centre in Mill Road, Enderby, as their first choice for the centre but they are also considering the Glenfield Surgery in Station Road, Glenfield.
They have chosen Blaby District because an NHS survey shows 1,600 people a year from Blaby district have to travel outside the area for our of hours health care. Cllr David Bill who represents Hinckley and Bosworth for the Liberal Democrats on Leicestershire County Council wrote to the NHS asking why Hinckley hadn’t also been chosen for an urgent care centre. He was told it is because out of hours care is available at Nuneaton’s George Eliot Hospital just six miles away.
Cllr David Bill said: “Even if the new urgent care centre is available to people in Hinckley Enderby is a 30 minute drive away. We need something in the town within easy reach such as at Hinckley Health Centre.
“It has been argued that we can go to George Eliot hospital for out of hours care which we can but because of the traffic jams on the A5 especially at the Longshoot it can take three quarters of an hour to get there.”
The Blaby district urgent care centre will be open weekday evenings and during the day at weekends. Experienced nurses will treat problems which are not life threatening but which need immediate attention such as burns, sprains and stomach upsets. People will be able to book appointments through their GP practice.
Urgent care centre are aimed at taking the pressure off other out of hours care services such as the ambulance service and hospital accident and emergency departments.
There will be information events about the urgent care centre at the following times and places:
Wednesday November 14 8:30am-10:30am at Glenfield Surgery
Saturday November 17 10am12pm at Blaby Library
Monday November 192pm4pm at Glenfield Library
Tuesday November 20 9am11am at Northfield Medical Centre
Thursday November 22 10am12pm at Enderby Medical Centre