Urgent treatment centre plan for 'seamless' care

Urgent treatment centres will be able to treat patients of all ages for minor issues

Walk-in centres and minor injuries units in Surrey are being reorganised to offer a less confusing system for patients, according to NHS bosses.

Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care System (ICS) said offering urgent treatment centres would "standardise" primary care and make access "seamless" for patients.

The ICS is working with NHS England to bring in to line access to urgent and emergency care and aiming to make the changes from April, according to a report.

Urgent treatment centres will be able to treat patients of all ages for minor ailments and injuries which are not life threatening.

Report documents said the centres would be open seven days a week and for a minimum of 12 hours a day.

Minor injuries units and walk-in centres have developed locally over time, sometimes with different service offers.

"Often this system is really difficult for patients to navigate who don't understand where they should be going, with what complaints and see the right clinician or nurse," a Surrey Heartlands spokesperson told Surrey County Council at an adult and health select committee meeting on Thursday.

It is hoped the change would lead to a shift of patients away from emergency departments into more local services.

Four locations across Surrey will be made into urgent treatment centres

Minor injuries units at Caterham Dene and Haslemere Hospital, as well as walk-in centres at Ashford Hospital and Woking Community Hospital, would be transformed into urgent treatment centres, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Councillors expressed concern about how easily accessible the urgent care unit would be for those who could only use public transport or had mobility issues.

The ICS board said it recognised the difficulties and would speak to local transport links but it was not something it could provide at the moment.