More NHS walk-in centres unveiled

The centres offer advice on minor ailments

Eleven new NHS walk-in centres are to be set up around the country - bringing the total to 64.

The aim of the centres is to provide quick access to advice and treatment for minor ailments and injuries without the need for a prior appointment.

There have been more than 4 million visits to the 42 centres already opened since 2000.

And ministers have pledged more centres will follow, despite critics questioning their worth.

Some of the existing sites are already starting to provide additional services such as prescribing by nurses and access to GP services

New walk-in centres Brighton Lewisham Darlington Barking and Dagenham Skelmersdale Colchester Huntingdon Prestwich Salford Gateshead Sunderland

For example the Manchester centre will be providing a satellite service in Wytheshaw town centre in the New Year.

Health Minister John Hutton said: "The development of the walk-in centres offers patients more choice and more convenient access to services.

"This is particularly true for people who commute to work and who find it difficult to go to the GP during working hours."

However, research published last year showed a walk-in centre in Loughborough had not significantly affected the numbers of patients going to see their GPs.

And the British Medical Association has warned that there is little analysis to prove that the centres are a cost-effective way of providing NHS care.

The NHS Plan promises that by December 2004 all patients should be seen by a GP within two working days or by a primary care professional in one day.

It also pledges that all A&E patients should be seen within four hours.

Government figures show that 93% of patients are now able to see a GP within two working days and 90% of patients wait less than four hours in A&E.