The latter are meant to take the pressure off acute hospitals, which often struggle under the weight of patient demand. The urgent care centre in the centre of Walsall is likely to close, even though it opened only last year at a cost of £1m, under money-saving plans being considered by the town’s NHS clinical commissioning group. Critics warn that it will leave Walsall’s other urgent care centre, at Manor hospital, unable to cope with extra demand. “Cuts and closures are being made and threatened to frontline NHS services across the country,” said Holly Maltby, a campaigner with 38 Degrees. The walk-in centres closures include the facility in Lincoln, which is the only service of its type in Lincolnshire.

Source: The Guardian November 15, 2017 00:01 UTC