Story Street walk-in centre ‘to move to HRI’: Six-week consultation begins

MOVING: Story Street walk-in centre

By Simon Bristow

Health chiefs have announced plans to move Story Street walk-in centre in Hull city centre to Hull Royal Infirmary.

The proposals would see the centre moved to a site near the Emergency Department from November this year.

A six-week consultation on the plans began today and will run until Friday, October 13. This will take place at venues across Hull, while an online survey can be completed here.

The Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board said: “The proposed move would see the centre relocated to a new site at the hospital from November 2023, paving the way for improved integration of urgent care services in the city.

“Additional minor injuries and diagnostic pathways would then be established to create a fully designated urgent treatment centre at the hospital from April 2024.”

People registered as patients at the three practices within Wilberforce Health Centre (Wilberforce Surgery, The Quays and East Park practices), will not be affected by the proposed move. There would be no reduction in care staff at the Emergency Department or primary care provision in Hull and the East Riding, the ICB said.

Dr James Crick, Clinical Place Director (East Riding of Yorkshire & Hull) at NHS Humber and North Yorkshire ICB, said: “This is a huge opportunity to integrate local NHS urgent care services for residents and visitors to Hull and the East Riding. The change will ensure that services reflect the needs of our population and that people seeking care are placed on the right path from the very start of their patient journey.

“We understand that this move might impact some of our communities and we want to understand the challenges they might encounter to allow us to effectively mitigate for them.”

Gemma Bradley, Head of Service for Integrated Urgent Care at City Health Care Partnership CIC, said: “An additional Urgent Treatment Centre, on-site at Hull University Teaching Hospital, will provide much needed access to urgent care services. Our aim is to reduce the wait in the emergency department by delivering urgent care to patients when they need it, freeing up capacity for life threatening cases.

“We are continuing to work with our partners and workforce to ensure the centre is ready to play a crucial role in delivering urgent and emergency care in Hull."

Dr Ben Rayner, Clinical Director and Consultant in Emergency Medicine for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “As well as being the receiving area of our major trauma centre, our emergency department is one of the busiest in the Yorkshire region. The news that an urgent treatment centre is to be established on the Hull Royal Infirmary site is a welcome step forward in the care we collectively provide to patients.

“It will help us to reduce overall waiting times, improve patient experience, and enable our highly trained staff to focus on the most seriously ill and injured.”

The integration of the urgent care services in Hull has been made possible with £2.77m funding from the recently announced £250 million boost towards helping service recovery and managing demand this winter, the ICB said.

It said this would ease pressure on the hospital Emergency Department by reducing overcrowding, “inappropriate attendances” and patient waiting times.

The site would have an enhanced, larger clinical space for walk-in patients to be seen.

The Hull Story asked what would happen if the majority of respondents say they oppose the move. A spokesperson for the ICB said: “The plans to move the Story Street walk-in centre provides an opportunity to integrate local NHS urgent care services for residents, and visitors, in Hull and the East Riding in time for winter 2023 – putting these services where the demand is and making it simpler for patients to access them.

“However, we are aware that some people may face issues with the move of the current Story Street walk-in service. The engagement process will allow us to understand any barriers people may face so we can look to help manage any difficulties.”