A THREE-month trial of appointment-based GP clinics at the weekend is now under way in Bude.

This follows the recent review of out of hours service provision in the North Cornwall area (following local protests) by the Primary Care Trust and the out of hours GP service provider, Serco. Open from 10am until 1pm on both Saturday and Sunday, the new clinics started on February 25, with all patient appointments referred by Serco's Urgent Care Out of Hours team.

Over the first weekend, six patients attended the clinic on Saturday and nine patients on Sunday.

There were no patients referred and seen at the clinic on the following Saturday, although seven patients attended on Sunday. And over the second weekend in March, four patients were seen at the clinic on Saturday and two on Sunday.

For the full report, and a round up of the area news and sport, please see this week's edition of the 'Post'.