HEALTH campaigners from across the political divide were celebrating on Monday when official confirmation was given that an urgent care centre is to be built in Devizes.

MP Claire Perry was at Devizes Area Board meeting to join in the party mood as Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group gave details about the new centre which will include a minor injury unit and all the services provided at Devizes Hospital.

Mrs Perry said: "It is fantastic news. I just want to thank everyone who has been involved in making this happen."

The CCG said that the way people in Devizes access primary care services is set to change following a decision by doctors from five GP practices to work with the group to develop the centre in Marshall Road. It is expected it will be open by November 2017.

Dr Richard Sandford-Hill, senior partner at Market Lavington practice said: "GPs in Devizes will be delivering primary care in a different way. Our vision means that patients will be triaged by their own GP or the 111 service to the urgent care centre or the most appropriate place for them to be treated.

"At the moment a substantial number of Wiltshire people demand urgent GP appointments, which means doctors can’t get around to seeing people with more complex conditions until later in the afternoon. Our new proposal allows us to free up capacity so that GPs in Devizes can review the care and support for people who are more vulnerable and at much greater risk of going into hospital.

"Once up and running, there will be, on average, an additional 540 GP appointments available each week across the area, freeing up one and a half hours of GP time each day where we can support patients in other ways.

“As well as having a positive impact on how GP practices manage their patients, we also expect it to have a positive effect on A&E admittance with less people presenting at hospital."

Deborah Fielding, accountable officer of Wiltshire CCG said: “We still have a long way to go, but we are very optimistic that we will be able to open an urgent care centre for the people of Devizes and surrounding villages within the next two years.

"The next few months will be crucial as our proposals turn into reality. A lot still hinges on the ability to raise the funds required, but we are confident that these plans have an important role to play in the future of healthcare in Devizes."

Money to pay for the new centre will come from the sale of Devizes Hospital but chief finance officer Simon Truelove reassured people at the meeting that the hospital would not close until the new centre was fully operational.

He said the centre would be next to the Devizes NHS Treatment Centre so it would be able to use its x-ray machine.

The urgent care centre would be open between 8am and 8pm but would not be run on a walk-in basis. Patients would have to ring and go through a triage process.

Mr Truelove said: “At a time when NHS finances are challenged as never before, it’s vital that the CCG and the local GPs are allowed to deliver our vision for the Devizes Urgent Care Centre as smoothly and as quickly as possible. We know the community hospital site is held in fond regard by lots of people in Devizes and the money raised by the site will ensure we can continue to deliver vital primary care

services well into the future."