This afternoon, I had a useful catch-up with partners and management at the Pinn Medical Centre.
Following my election in 2019, I was glad to continue the work of my predecessor, Nick Hurd, to maintain the Pinn's walk-in service. Thanks to both a brilliant locally-led campaign and intervention from then Health Secretary Matt Hancock, the service was saved. However, the pandemic that followed placed unprecedented demands and pressures on healthcare providers, which led to the Pinn taking on a walk-in/GP access centre (GPAC) model and later on, a GPAC only service.
I have had ongoing engagement with partners over the years and my most recent intervention helped to secure an extension of the Pinn's current contract for a further 21 months. This is positive news, but the priority and focus must be on ensuring its long-term future. I will therefore be pressing the Health Secretary for his commitment to reinstate a full walk-in centre model, or to support the Pinn in gaining Urgent Treatment Centre status.
I hope this will go some way to make up for the loss of service to residents arising from the closure of the nurse-led Urgent Care Centre at Mount Vernon Hospital.
