URGENT primary care in Oldham could be radically changed and split between five local hubs - replacing the current walk-in centre - under new proposals.

NHS Oldham Clinical Commissioning Group is currently seeking public opinion on the proposals after the current services were described as “no longer fit for purpose”.

Rather than one central urgent care centre/walk-in service, serving around 250,000 Oldhamers, GP surgeries will gather in five clusters to provide urgent primary care in patients’ local areas.

The option, which is recommended by NHS Oldham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), is designed so that these urgent care hubs can be tailored to the specific needs of that area.

It would also mean patients can book urgent appointments and call their own GP to be directed to the best place for care to make “maximum use of existing facilities”.

It is also hoped the cluster approach will better meet patients’ needs so that, over time, fewer people will go to A&E with conditions treatable by primary care.

Dr Ian Wilkinson, chief clinical officer at NHS Oldham Clinical Commissioning Group, explained: “Oldham’s existing urgent primary care services have served us well for many years, but there are a number of reasons why they are now no longer fit for purpose.

“We are currently talking to as many people as possible about why change needs to happen, and what they think about our plans. Earlier this year, we started the conversation about improving Oldham’s urgent primary care during our pre-consultation period, where we asked patients some key questions about this area of healthcare.

“They told us that the most important things to them were quality of care, the connection of urgent primary care to other health and social care services, appointment availability, clinicians having appropriate access to their medical records, care being provided in a convenient location with short waiting times where possible, and accessibility by public transport.”

The changes would mean there is a single point of entry at patients’ own GP practices – with patients no longer having to “self triage” to decide whether to go to their GP, A&E or a walk-in service.

It will also see the creation of a single care plan for patients with medical records shared between GPs, hospital clinicians and other health and social care professionals.

In a second option, urgent primary care would be provided at a single modified walk-in service, serving all Oldham patients from the existing site at the Integrated Care Centre.

Patients would continue to attend the centre and wait to be seen and, as with the first option, A&E would also triage patients on arrival into either the emergency or primary care stream co-located on site, based on their medical needs.

Dr Wilkinson continued: “Option A, which is the CCG’s preferred option, would see urgent primary care treatment services delivered at five locally tailored urgent care hubs, one in each GP practice cluster area, offering bookable urgent appointments.

“Option B, would mean that urgent primary care would be provided at a single modified walk-in service, serving all Oldham patients from the existing site at the Integrated Care Centre.

“This isn’t recommended by the CCG, because the lack of locally-developed services would mean a continuation of a one-size-fits-all approach, which we already know is not effective.”

So far, Oldham CCG has spoken to almost 2,000 patients across the borough and has made presentations to a wide range of community groups including those groups representing disadvantaged people.

Dr Wilkinson said: “We will continue to talk to patients and encourage them to complete the consultation survey up until the closing date on December 4, so that we hear as many views as we possibly can.

"We will use the results of the consultation to identify key themes to understand the views that people put forward, and consider the consultation findings, alongside other information, before coming to a final decision about the changes we will make.”

As the commissioner for health in Oldham, the CCG has a statutory duty to consult on changes to clinical services.

The consultation, which began in October, runs until December 4.

To have your say visit oldhamccg.nhs.uk/consult

If you would like Oldham CCG to come and talk to your group contact oldccg.hello@nhs.net or call 0161-212 4419.