A SECOND consultation has been scheduled over plans for urgent care treatment in Bury.

Throughout 2018, a new model for proposed health and social care hubs will continue to be developed.

Bury Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) previously announced that three Integrated Health and Social Care Hubs (IHSCHs) would be created in Bury, Radcliffe and Prestwich.

They also outlined plans to create an Urgent Treatment Centre at Fairfield General Hospital, running alongside the A&E department.

The first consultation period revealed that residents wanted to retain the 'walk-in' level access currently provided through the Walk-In Centres (WICs) at Moorgate Primary Care Centre in Bury and Prestwich.

New national guidance makes it compulsory that, by December 2019, patients will be able to access Urgent Treatment Centres without the need to have booked an appointment.

Rather than establishing a single centre and decommissioning the two current walk-in centres (WICs), Bury CCG is proposing a new Urgent Treatment Centre at Fairfield General, as well as an initial three hubs.

At a governing body meeting today, chief officer Stuart North said: "We have reviewed the national guidance and reflected on the comments we received from the first round of public engagement.

"We have revised our proposals so that the two existing walk-in centres will evolve into IHSCHs. We are also proposing Radcliffe Primary Care Centre as a potential hub site.

"We trust that this new model will be supported by the population and stakeholders.

"Pace and implementation will be gradual."

Key changes to the proposal include a requirement to have an Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) almost in every locality.

Secondly, the proposed health and social care hubs will include GP services that enable them to see patients who are currently accessing walk-in centres.

The governing body hopes that one of these initial three hubs will be up and running within six months, in late summer or early autumn.

Once it is determined what resources are needed for a hub, this would then be rolled out to the other sites, tailoring them to the specific needs of each community.

Another key change will see residents signposted to GPs as their first point of contact regarding urgent medical concerns, rather than the NHS 111 helpline.

Chair and clinical lead at the CCG, Dr Kiran Patel said: "We received a lot of feedback that there was no confidence in the 111 system.

"We have agreed that GPs will be the first point of contact.

"Greater Manchester has also taken this approach."

To allow residents to have their say on the proposals, a second consultation will launch on Monday, January 29.

The six-week public engagement will conclude on Sunday, March 11, with a view to the governing body making a decision at its next meeting on March 28.