A NEW-look health centre is set to open its doors on Friday – and here’s a first look at what to expect.

The Weymouth and Portland Community Urgent Care Centre aims to bring the previous Minor Injuries Unit and Walk-in Centre together in one seamless service at the Melcombe Avenue site.

While those behind the scheme say people using the service may not notice much difference – other than a single access point at reception – they say it’s a celebration of collaboration between provider Dorset HealthCare, Dorset County Hospital and South Western Ambulance Service Trust (SWAST).

Helen Persey, Weymouth Locality Manager for Dorset HealthCare and Dr Rupert Turberville-Smith of the Two Harbours GP federation, had this message for Dorset Echo readers about the revamped centre.

Dr Rupert Turberville-Smith, of the Two Harbours GP federation, said the revamped centre bucks the trend of centralisation.

"One of my worries is that there are more and more centralised services, which is good for centres of excellence, but not always good for patient access. The promotion of community hospitals really goes against the flow of centralisation. I'm very reassured."

New technology means some conditions traditionally treated at hospitals can now be dealt with at community care centre, he added.

These include deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and, in the future, possibly pulmonary embolism or those who have taken too high a dose of anti-coagulants.

"These are largely conditions where patients are seen for the day at hospital, investigations are carried out and treatment given, but they do not need to be kept in hospital overnight."

If certain conditions can be treated at the community centre, he added, it would save many people a trip to DCH.

At the moment, this is principally aimed at people in Weymouth and Portland, while those in Dorchester suffering conditions which could be treated at either the urgent care centre in Weymouth or DCH would be signposted to the Dorchester hospital.

But Dr Turberville-Smith said there 'has been discussion' about whether patients from areas outside of Weymouth and Portland could be treated at the urgent care centre.

He added: "The emphasis of this is making sure these safe, local services are there."

Dr Fred Cartwright, emergency department consultant at Dorset County Hospital, said: "Hopefully we are increasing the range of conditions which can be dealt with here, and waiting times at DCH will ease a bit."

He added that staff training, which has been 'widely welcomed', will in the long-run, mean more complex conditions such as facial fractures can be assessed in Weymouth and directed straight to the specialist centre, in this case Poole. This means patients will not have to go to DCH first.

Mick Barnes, from South West Ambulance Service, said: "From our point of view, not much is changing. Our out-of-hours service will run as it does now. But as an ambulance driver, it will make a big difference to be able to take people with suspected fractures here, rather than to Dorchester."

Patients will now be seen first in a triage room to assess how urgently they need to be treated. The most urgent cases can be seen immediately, while those less urgent can be sent back to the waiting room.

People whose condition is not urgent will be directed to their own GP surgery or pharmacies as appropriate.

X-ray services will now run seven days a week, instead of five. It is hoped the service will help alleviate pressure on A&E at Dorset County Hospital.

Jenny Stirling is a patient representative. She said there had been a positive response from patients she has spoken to about the changes.

"It needed streamlining, with a local flavour, and that has happened."

Dorset HealthCare will run the service from 8am to 11pm and the out-of-hours service will run from 11pm to 8am as it is currently.

"Opportunities" amid changes to Chalbury Ward

THE model used for the urgent care centre could, if successful, be rolled out across Dorset.

There could also be more joined up thinking to come, with discussions taking place over the space currently used by the dementia-specialist ward, the Chalbury Unit.

As reported in the Dorset Echo, the ward has been temporarily closed while a service review is carried out.

Helen Persey, Weymouth locality manager for Dorset HealthCare, said the Forston Clinic site is being considered as a place to provide beds alongside a new intermediary care team service to provide an alternative to hospital admission.

The space where the Chalbury Unit is currently, meanwhile, could provide other services. Mrs Persey emphasised that no decisions have been made.

"There are huge opportunities around the Weymouth site. One of the things we are looking at is care for people who are frail or have complex needs. So if someone frail comes here, they can have an X-Ray and be seen by the community care teams.

"We are also looking to expand our use of volunteer services."