Urgent Care Public Consultation
“The Governing Body’s decision is good news for local people and it is our ambition to implement the new Urgent Treatment Centres as quickly as possible. We look forward to working closely with our partners over the coming weeks to make sure there is a smooth transition of services from the Walk-in Centre and Minor Injuries Unit to the new Urgent Treatment Centre.”
NHS Dartford Gravesham and Swanley Clinical Commissioning Group’s (CCG) Governing Body has given the go ahead to develop two linked Urgent Treatment Centres (UTCs), one at Gravesham Community Hospital and one co-located with A&E at Darent Valley Hospital, as part of a networked urgent care services model.
Key Concerns
The CCG received almost 16,500 responses to its public consultation carried out between August and November 2019. Key concerns raised by local people, regardless of the site option they preferred, were traffic and congestion to Darent Valley Hospital, public transport, parking and how far they might have to travel to get the urgent care they need.
Services
Both UTCs will treat minor illnesses and minor injuries with the Urgent Treatment Centre at Darent Valley Hospital providing additional critical care by virtue of its co-location with the A&E department.
The walk-in services at the Whitehorse surgery will be relocated to Gravesham Community Hospital but the GP and other current services on the Fleet Health Campus will remain on site and unchanged.
Time Frame
It is expected that the two linked Urgent Treatment Centres will be in place by summer 2020 as part of the first phase towards fully networked sites providing “joined up”, urgent care services for the people of Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley.
“The public consultation gave us greater understanding of the key issues affecting local people. We have listened to these well placed concerns and adjusted our arrangements for the new Urgent Treatment Centre to meet local needs of people in Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley.”
Further information about the public consultation can be found on the NHS Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley CCG website.
