Health bosses in Bradford have approved plans to consult with the public over the opening hours of a flagship walk-in health centre – the first of its type in the country.

Proposals have been tabled to cut the opening hours of Hillside Bridge in Butler Street, Barkerend, from 8am to 8pm every day to noon to 8pm.

And the hours could be curtailed even further, after Catherine Clelland, a non-executive director of NHS Bradford and Airedale, put forward a proposal for the centre not to open until 2pm.

She made the suggestion to the board of directors of NHS Bradford and Airedale after a report revealed patients have been abusing the system, resulting in severe financial pressures.

As well as the public consultation over opening hours, the board gave the go ahead for an information campaign with patients who use the walk-in centre about the benefits of using their own GP and approved work with GP practices in the BD3 area to improve access to patients’ own GPs.

The walk-in centre was designed to improve access to healthcare for some of the most socially-excluded members of the community, such as the homeless and asylum seekers.

But at the board meeting yesterday Dr Andy McElligott, medical director of NHS Bradford and Airedale, said: “It has become apparent that those people are rarely using the walk-in centre and it is being used almost exclusively by people already registered with a GP.

  • Read the full story in Wednesday's T&A