Maidenhead's urgent care centre closure 'not considered'

The Royal Borough Liberal Democrats feared the Maidenhead centre, which provides walk-in diagnosis and treatment for minor injuries and ailments, had shut its doors forever after it was forced to close in April 2020 to reduce the spread of coronavirus.

Lib Dem Cllr Joshua Reynolds outside St Marks Hospital (credit: RBWM Lib Dems)

In a bid to relieve fears, the Frimley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) put out a statement saying the nurse-led care centre has not closed down – but will remain suspended and kept under review.

Dr Jackie McGlynn, the CCG’s clinical lead for urgent and emergency care, said: “We know how much the people of Maidenhead value the existing urgent care centre, and we want to work with the local community to make sure we continue to offer high-quality, joined-up local services which provide the best care and are easy to use.

“Closure of the urgent care centre is not being considered. However, we do want to take advantage of a wider public engagement exercise on how services post-pandemic can best be delivered, including building on the gains of our current GP-led initiatives.

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“We will be asking local people and our partners what matters most to them as part of this work, so I would ask residents to look out for opportunities to take part.

“However, for the moment we’re focused on using the services, the staff and the sites that we have to deliver the best possible care and to ensure we’re all ready for the challenges of the coming winter, as infections, hospital admissions and deaths continue to rise.”

In the meantime, a new GP-led urgent care service at St Mark’s will be set up this winter starting this week, which will be accessible through GP practices.

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It is said this will provide more than 800 urgent face-to-face appointments every week, which is four times the capacity of the urgent care centre, and will provide an ‘improved service’ by increasing the range of conditions able to be treated without referrals to other services.

This is part of testing potential future models, and patient feedback will be used as part of developing improved urgent care services for the future.