At last - a new urgent care service has finally launched in Wisbech, almost two years later than previously planned.
The pilot scheme has been launched at the North Cambs Hospital in Wisbech.
The Local Urgent Care Hub (LUC) aims to keep people out of hospital A&E departments thanks to the support of GP expertise supporting practitioners at the Minor Injury Unit (MIU) at the North Cambs Hospital.
The aim is to treat more patients in Wisbech, reducing the need for people to travel to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital at King's Lynn or one of the area's other hospitals.
The LUC pilot was due to launch in April 2017 but a lack of GP capacity put the scheme on hold in both Wisbech and Doddington. There is still no launch date for the Doddington pilot, but it is hoped it will go ahead later this year.
The LUC pilot at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Ely did successfully launch in 2017 and has been a huge success, so much so that the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group - which funds the scheme - announced last autumn that funding would be extended for a further 12 months.
Practitioners at the North Cambs Hospital will assess and treat patients with an urgent condition, but they will be able to call on rapid GP support if required. No appointment is needed and opening hours remain the same (Monday to Friday 8.30pm to 6pm).
Unlike at Ely, where there is a doctor on site, GP support at Wisbech will be provided via the telephone, or if required patients will be referred to an ‘on call’ GP at North Brink Practice for further consultation and treatment.
Wisbech is the second of the three pilots to launch within East Cambridgeshire and Fenland. Helping to improve access to urgent care, each LUCS pilot is locality specific, recognising the different opportunities and challenges in each area.