Out-of-hours centres to stay put following health review (From Ilkley Gazette)
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Out-of-hours centres to stay put following health review
12:26pm Friday 1st June 2012 in Local news By Amanda Greaves
Out-of-hours healthcare centres across the Bradford District are to stay where they are following a public consultation.
Primary care trust (PCT) cluster NHS Airedale, Bradford and Leeds says the centres will stay at Airedale General Hospital, Bradford Royal Infirmary and Eccleshill Community Hospital.
The trust is planning a bigger review of urgent care services later this year.
More than 300 people wrote to NHS Airedale, Bradford and Leeds about the proposals for urgent care, which could have seen GP out-of-hours centres in the district reduced from three to two.
Many more contributed their views through focus groups, at supermarket drop-ins and public meetings.
PCT directors based their decision on public comments and trust information about where and when patients use services.
The Airedale Hospital’s centre, at Steeton, is open from 6.30pm to 8pm Monday to Friday, as well as 24 hours on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays.
The PCT’s Head of Primary Care (Planning and Strategy), Mike Edmondson, said: “We had an excellent response to the consultation on urgent care services which, together with our own research on how people use existing services, helped to influence our decision to keep services as they are.
“We are always looking at ways to improve our services, and urgent care is something that is very close to each and every one of us.
“Because of this, later this year we want to do a bigger review of urgent care services to find out about what kind of urgent care services local people need, and how these should be provided.”
The next review will ask patients about their experiences of using accident and emergency services, ambulance services, and about getting appointments to see family doctors.
NHS Airedale, Bradford and Leeds is tendering for a provider to run the district’s urgent care services, along with other primary care trusts in West Yorkshire.
