Campaign to save Portsmouth city centre NHS walk-in centre

The Guildhall Walk service is about two miles away from the St Mary's centre

A campaign has been launched to stop a NHS health centre in Portsmouth city centre being closed.

NHS chiefs wants to move the walk-in service and GP surgery from Guildhall Walk and combine it with St Mary's Treatment Centre.

Opponents said it would make it much harder for thousands of people to see a doctor and increase waiting times.

Portsmouth Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) said the move would simplify the system for GPs and patients.

Cancer patient Andy Marsh, 45, said: "[It's] crucial for me sometimes. If I need to see a doctor, I get so ill I can't get out of bed.

"[But] if I'm not feeling too bad, I manage to drag myself down here and I can see a doctor, which is pretty good, there's nowhere else around here you can do that."

Patients 'bounced'

Local pharmacist Pushpinder Laly added: "One tenth of the city's population is around here so why move something which is already successful to somewhere where it is very difficult or hard for people to get?"

The CCG, which stressed a decision has not yet been made, said: "The feedback from residents and GPs strongly suggests that our current system has grown over-complicated and can be hard to understand.

"Currently the NHS pays for two separate walk-ins within two miles of each other and patients can end up being 'bounced' between different parts of the NHS.

"The St Mary's combined walk-in centre would be open seven days a week, 365 days of the year, late into the evenings."

A survey has been set up to allow the public to have their say before a decision is made.