£1.5m investment for Loughborough urgent care services

Loughborough urgent care services are set for a £1.5 million investment after plans to relocate the Walk-In Centre to the community hospital site were given the go-ahead.
The Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland PCT Cluster board today (9 February) backed West Leicestershire Clinical Commissioning Group’s (WL CCG) recommendation to move the urgent care service to Loughborough Hospital following a 12-week public consultation.
The relocation will mean that patients who require urgent care but not acute A&E services can be treated at Loughborough Hospital and will not have to travel to Leicester Royal Infirmary. There will also be increased access to diagnostics such as scans, blood tests and x-rays at weekends, as well as observation bays.
Toby Sanders, managing director of WL CCG, said: “We would like to thank all the people who took part in the consultation. We have listened to what they have told us about their concerns, which were mainly to do with access, and are developing plans to make a major increase in car parking spaces at Loughborough Hospital.
“The £1.5m investment will not only ensure that the accommodation at the hospital is suitable for the urgent care service, but also provide at least 40 additional car parking spaces and ideally more.
“The relocation is likely to take place towards the end of 2012, allowing us time to run a campaign raising awareness of the move as well as encouraging unregistered patients to join one of the existing Loughborough GP practices. We have committed ourselves to working with GP practices across West Leicestershire, particularly local practices, to improve access, to make sure that when we are encouraging the public to register with practices they can get appointments when they need them.”
The move from Pinfold Gate to the hospital in Epinal Way will also allow the Walk-In Centre’s current base to be used by Pinfold Gate Medical Practice in the future. The surgery, which has previously been identified through a PCT Cluster Fitness for Purpose Review as requiring capital investment, will be able to improve the practice for existing patients as well as take on previously unregistered patients.

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