Walsall GP patients 'put strain on walk-ins'

It is also claimed patients lack knowledge of the full range of facilities on offer in the borough.

Jane Hayman, lead commissioner for urgent care at Walsall Clinical Commissioning Group, revealed the findings at a meeting last night.

The review is being held into out-of-hours services and the town's walk-in health centre. It is being carried out in a bid to highlight improvements, with residents, patients, voluntary groups and health providers being consulted.

A series of events, organised to gather people's opinions, have been taking place this month and a formal consultation on any proposed changes is set to launch in May.

Miss Hayman, who was speaking at a meeting of North Walsall Area Panel during a meeting at Blakenall Village Centre, said the review would ensure people had access to the care they required.

She added: "At this stage there have been no decisions made. It's not about a cost-cutting exercise or taking services away. We want to get people's views."

She said some people had been using the walk-in health centre, in Digbeth, because they could not get appointments with their GP.

Councillor Kath Phillips told the meeting: "I know lots of people who try and get an appointment, can't and go to the walk-in centre. Should we be looking to improve doctor's services?"

Chairman of the panel, Councillor Tim Oliver added: "There are real issues about the lack of consistency in GP practices. Some are very good, some have made steps by extending their hours, others aren't."

Concerns have also been raised that some people do not realise the emergency and urgent care centre exists as a walk-in service at Manor Hospital.

The 24-hour facility is located behind A&E and is for those who need urgent advice or treatment but do not require A&E services.

Miss Hayman said: "You can just walk in rather than go through the A&E route.

"We perceive people are confused about where they ought to go to."

She said accessing GP services was an issue and that the emergency and urgent care centre at the hospital needed to be better publicised so people knew exactly where it was and how it functions.

Miss Hayman added: "We will start to pick out the key trends.

"Currently we do have high demands in terms of access to all the services we class as urgent."

She said proposed changes to urgent care would be drawn up by the CCG and a 12-week formal consultation was expected to launch in May.

There are four main services in Walsall for emergency and urgent care. These are the Walsall Manor A&E, Badger out-of hours services, the emergency and urgent care centre next to the Manor Hospital and Walsall Walk-in centre.

Joanna Kail, spokesperson for Walsall Clinical Commissioning Group, said: "Walsall Clinical Commissioning Group is undertaking a review of urgent and emergency care services in the borough with the aim of improving access and integration across health and social care services for people with urgent healthcare needs. We want services to be available at the right place and at the right time."

Information about the review is available at www.walsallccg.nhs.uk, where people can also take part in a survey.