Mersey Care roll out Urgent Treatment Centres (UTCs)
Three Walk In Centres across Cheshire and Merseyside are being upgraded to Urgent Treatment Centres to include improved facilities from this autumn as part of a national redesign to ensure consistency of service for local communities.
It will increase the number of UTCs across the region run by Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust to four with Litherland having been upgraded in 2019. The UTCs, which are open from 8am to 8pm, are a GP-led service supported by highly skilled clinical practitioners and will be based at:
- Kirkby (St Chads) Urgent Treatment Centre
- Old Swan Urgent Treatment Centre
- South Liverpool (Garston) Urgent Treatment Centre
- Litherland Urgent Treatment Centre.
In addition to treating minor minor injuries and illnesses that are not an emergency, the new UTCs are aiming to include diagnostics, urine tests and x-rays, and prescribe medication and issue prescriptions for some conditions. They will also be able to refer patients to other urgent care services within the community and hospitals.
Dr Rachel Williams, Clinical Director of Same Day Urgent Care, said: “We’re delighted to receive these new statuses which recognises the full offer that’s available to our patients. We’re making care easier to access and closer to home.
“Anyone facing an urgent health need requiring same day care shouldn’t hesitate to visit us. They are still in exactly the same place, just look for the new name and please remember to call NHS 111 in advance.”
Patients wishing to attend UTCs can simply turn up without making an appointment, however it’s recommended that people call NHS 111 in advance to check this is the service they require. You can also book an appointment by ringing 111.
Mersey Care also runs four Walk In Centres (WICs) that are continuing to be developed:
- City Centre (The Beat)
- Huyton (Nutgrove Villa)
- Halewood
- Smithdown Children’s.
More information about Mersey Care’s UTC and WIC services can be found here: www.merseycare.nhs.uk/urgent-treatment
ends
For further information please contact: Myles Hodgson, Media Manager, 0151 473 2797 myles.hodgson@merseycare.nhs.uk or Communications on 0151 471 2336.
Contact Information
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
communications@merseycare.nhs.uk
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
Mersey Care is a community mental health and physical health provider that delivers a wide range of community health and specialist mental health services across North West England and beyond. Our vision is to strive for perfect, whole-person care that helps the population we serve live happier, healthier lives.
For six of the seven councils within Liverpool City Region – Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, St Helens, Sefton and Warrington – we provide a range of specialist mental health inpatient services and community physical health, mental health, learning disabilities, addiction services together with acquired brain injury services.
Our clinical services are delivered from over 170 sites across the North West. Our teams are supported by a corporate team based at our offices in Kings Business Park, Prescot, Merseyside. Over 10,000 staff serve a population of 1,442,200.
We also provide secure mental health services for the North West of England, the West Midlands and Wales and specialist learning disability services across Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Merseyside. We are one of only three trusts in the country that provide high secure mental health services.