Why Cardiff needs an NHS Walk In Centre

Written by Jenny Randerson and published in Cardiff Post on Thu 8th Feb 2007

A couple of weeks ago, the health minister made a very significant announcement. After visiting a nurse-led NHS walk-in centre in Bristol, she made a long overdue announcement that she would pilot walk-in centres in Wales. This has been the culmination of years of debate and calls for such centres in Wales.

Having campaigned heavily on the issue of walk-in centres in the elections last year, I was delighted with the news, although I am concerned by the amount of time it has taken to make this announcement.

In Bristol, as well as in around 90 other locations in England, these centres have made huge strides forward in easing pressure on A+E departments and GP surgeries, as well as providing services for those who find it hard to access traditional services, either due to time or circumstance.

Now that we have won the arguments and the trials are to begin, I have turned my attention to campaigning for Cardiff to be included as one of the pilot projects. In a short debate in the Assembly last week, I took the opportunity to set out the reasons why I believe Cardiff has to be one of the pilot sites and I have followed this up with questions to the First Minister and in correspondence to the Health Minister.

Like Bristol and other English sites, Cardiff has many extra pressures through its capital status, not least the 80 000 people who visit the city each day for work and play. These visitors, while extremely welcome put extra pressures on UHW and other services. A walk-in centre would help to ease this burden, while also making things a lot better for people taken sick at work. The homeless population, often drawn to the anonymity of a big city would also benefit from a walk-in centre as many find it very difficult to access traditional services. The way that walk-in centres compliment existing services rather than replacing them means that our current services would not be damaged but could be enhanced by their introduction.

I have no doubt that once the pilot schemes are up and running, they will illustrate the need for walk-in centres across Wales, but I feel it would be a disaster to miss Cardiff out of the first few sites. After all, where the need is greatest, the introduction should be prioritised. I am determined to keep up the pressure for Cardiff to be included, and I would encourage residents and visitors to our city to contact the Minister and lend your support to the campaign for Cardiff. If enough people show their support, then in just a few months time, we could see a brand new service in our city, one that will benefit us all.