District urgent care consultation underway

 

District urgent care consultation underway

 

Patients in East Leicestershire and Rutland are being asked for their views on out-of-hours healthcare services, as the local NHS looks to make improvements to the services.

The services, known as urgent care services, offer GP and nurse appointments when GP practices are closed on weekday evenings, at weekends and on bank holidays.

NHS East Leicestershire and Rutland Clinical Commissioning Group (ELR CCG) is proposing the changes as the contracts for the services come to an end in March 2019. The changes include plans to open a new urgent care centre in the Blaby district area to make services easier to navigate for patients and make best use of NHS resources.

Under the plans, which are subject to the views of patients, a centre in the District of Blaby will be open on weekday evenings from 6.30pm to 9pm and at weekends and on bank holidays from 9am to 5pm.

Patients will be able to walk-in to access healthcare, and appointments will be offered to those calling NHS 111 if their symptoms require it. Patients will also be able to pre-book weekday evening, weekend and bank holiday appointments via their GP practice from September 2018.

The new centre will mean patients living in the district will be able to access out-of-hours services closer to home, reducing the need to travel. Currently, 26% of out-of-hours appointments at Oadby Urgent Care Centre are used by people who live in the Blaby district area.

An exact location for the site is currently being considered, however it is likely to be based at an existing healthcare premises.

The survey closed on Tuesday 24 July and is available to complete online at: surveymonkey.com/r/ELRurgentcare18

People are also invited to attend two information events to find out more about the plans. Events will take place on Tuesday 3 July from 10am to 12.30pm at Community Lounge, Brockington College, Blaby Road, Enderby, Blaby LE19 4AQ

Patients are asked to register for the event in Blaby District on the Eventbrite website.