§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to increase the number of GP walk in centres. [75565]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 21 October 2002]: National health service walk-in centres are a programme to pilot delivery of a new type of accessible and nurse led primary care service.
There are now 42 such centres and the independent national evaluation concluded that they were making a valuable contribution to improving primary care access. Walk-in centres and services therefore have an important and continuing role in securing local delivery of NHS Plan targets for access and emergency care. We are currently considering how best to ensure that primary care trust exploits this potential.