PLANS to add an urgent care centre to Fairfield General Hospital's A&E department have been approved.

Bury Clinical Commissioning Group approved the scheme at a meeting yesterday, following a six week consultation period.

Under the proposed model, the urgent treatment centre will be developed at the hospital running alongside the A&E department.

This new and additional resource, open 12 hours a day, will provide care for those patients who attend A&E but whose needs are deemed to be urgent rather than an emergency.

It will mean the emergency department will be available to care for the poorliest of patients.

It is also proposed that the two existing nurse led walk-in centre services at Bury and Prestwich, along with the three current GP evening and weekend appointment services - in Bury, Prestwich and Radcliffe - will also be developed to become integrated health and social care hubs offering a range of services including GP led walk-in services.

These hubs would be more focussed on supporting the most vulnerable patients and patients with complex needs, who would benefit from a more integrated service whilst improving access to both routine and urgent care.

The current walk-in centres will continue operating until they evolve into integrated hubs.

Stuart North, chief officer for Bury CCG said: “We listened to feedback from local people about the importance they place on walk-in services, and considered this alongside new guidance with a view to developing an appropriate urgent care solution for Bury.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody that inputted into our consultation process. Feedback was generally supportive of the proposals, and we welcomed the questions received and positive debate at our public meeting.”

“Taking this valued feedback into consideration, the governing body agreed at its meeting this month, to move forward with the proposed model which will include the availability of walk-in services.”