NHS KERNOW Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has unveiled its plans to locate three urgent treatment centres at Bodmin, Truro and West Cornwall.

However, Dr Rob White, NHS Kernow’s clinical lead for urgent care, said: “I want to stress that the creation of the three urgent treatment centres will not mean the closure of any of our other minor injury services.”

The Post has previously reported on desires locally for one of the urgent treatment centres to be located at Launceston Hospital, and last year the chief executive of Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Phil Confue, suggested at a meeting of the town council that local people lobby for Launceston to be one.

He said at the time of the urgent treatment centres, which will offer a mix of services and take pressure away from A&E departments: “There are probably only going to be three, four or five in Cornwall. I think for East Cornwall you might want to lobby that Launceston makes sense. Now is the time to lobby to say Launceston would be an ideal place to support East Cornwall. It’s your hospital, if you want to see it develop, if you want it to become something like an urgent care centre you need to use your voice.”

Recently, NHS Kernow CCG announced that ‘people in Cornwall will be among the first in the country to benefit from national changes to improve the way people can get urgent help for conditions such as broken bones, burns, sprains and strains’.

It said West Cornwall Hospital was chosen because it is already operating as an urgent treatment centre, it is well used and valued, Truro (Treliske hospital) was chosen because the NHS can offer a better service and experience to people by redesigning existing services in existing buildings. This way only the most acute medical emergencies are seen in the emergency department, and Bodmin (on minor injury centre site) was chosen because it is close to the A30 and has room to expand.

The centres will be run by a team of doctors, nurses and other clinicians who will work together closely to get people with serious conditions treated and back home as quickly as possible.

They will have a particular focus on supporting older people with complex needs who do not need to stay in hospital. The new urgent treatment centres will enhance the county’s 25 GP surgeries which already provide a minor injury service, and eight minor injury units.

Boosting the way people can receive help for serious but not life-threatening conditions is part of both a local and national drive to keep emergency departments free for people needing help for heart attacks, severe burns, stroke, major traumas and having trouble breathing.

The centres are also close to pharmacies which are open early in the morning and late in the evening, including weekends.

Pharmacies provide invaluable minor ailment services to reduce the numbers of people heading to the emergency department when they could get help from someone else.

Dr White said: “The creation of urgent treatment centres is part of our exciting vision to create a more effective and sustainable urgent care system in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. It’s no secret that our entire health and care system is under pressure from an increasingly older and frail population and people who need treatment for more than one, often complex condition. The number of people attending emergency departments and minor injury units is increasing each year and we expect this to continue.

“We want to improve our urgent and emergency care system so people get the right care in the right place, whenever they need it. Improving the ways people can get convenient and locally enhanced treatment and access to advice is an important step on our journey.

“Increasing the ways people can get help for serious, but not life-threatening conditions, will make it easier for them, and also take pressure off our busy emergency departments, which should only be used for the most life-threatening of conditions like chest pain, stroke, serious trauma such as a road accident and major cuts, breaks and burns.

“We have listened to what people have told us about what services they want and where they want them to inform our plans to create a joined-up and improved health and care system, which works in partnership with our GPs, pharmacies, minor injury services and emergency departments. Everyone has a common goal: to provide first class care when people need it. Our new urgent treatment centres are another step towards achieving this.”

If you are unsure which service to use visit www.kernowccg.nhs.uk which lists all of the services and when to use them.