Urgent care centre opening in Dudley - creating 30 new jobs
Thirty new jobs will be created when an urgent care centre opens at Dudley's Russells Hall Hospital in April.
The new service, accessed via the emergency department, will replace the existing walk-in centre at Holly Hall and is expected to treat more than 160,000 patients a year.
It is hoped that the centre will help to reduce pressure on A&E as bosses predict it will be used by the thousands of non-urgent patients who currently turn up at the department.
Malling Health has been awarded the five-year £18million contract to run the 24/7 service.
The walk-in centre will shut on March 31 and 30 clinical and non-clinical workers will move to the new base.
New staff will also be recruited to make up the full team of 60 people.
Dr Steve Mann, from Dudley CCG said: "The walk-in centre at Holly Hall will close on March 31.
"From this date, all patients who think they have an emergency medical problem should go to the urgent care centre which should be accessed via the emergency department at Russells Hall Hospital.
"The new 24/7 service provided by GP led-Malling Health will continue to offer 'walk-in' appointments for advice and treatment of minor illness and injuries.
"On arrival patients will be assessed and directed to either to primary care to be seen by a GP or to the emergency department if appropriate.
"This will ensure patients are seen more quickly and will reduce the pressure on the emergency department.
"GP out of hours service will also be part of the new urgent care centre, they can be contacted via NHS 111.
"We are confident this will offer a real improvement in care for all patients."
Plans to close the walk-in centre have proved unpopular with the community. More than 3,000 people responded to a consultation, costing £18,500, to give their views on the proposals.
And hundreds of people signed a petition calling for the centre to remain open.
But Dudley CCG said the new urgent care service would provide a better service as it will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
There had been concerns raised about proposals to base the urgent care centre at the hospital because of fears that patients could struggle to park. But Dudley CCG said patients would be able to get advice on the phone, which may mean they need to make an appointment later or be directed to an alternative service.
