City Walk In Centre set to be relocated

MERSEY Care is set to move its City Walk In Centre service from the Beat to new premises at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital in the Linda McCartney Centre, from:- 16 October 2023.

The move will allow the new premises to operate closely with the Accident and Emergency Department (AED) at the Royal, enabling emergency medicine specialists to focus on those with urgent and emergency conditions within the AED.

The decision to move the service was made because the site at the BEAT does not have the ability to comply with the nationally mandated Urgent Treatment Centre standards.

Trish Bennett, Executive Director of Nursing and Operations and Deputy Chief Executive for Clinical Services at Mersey Care, said:- "We realise this may be an inconvenience to our patients who are used to turning up the Beat and we'd like to apologise for any inconvenience caused by this move. The relocation will help join up services with colleagues at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (LUHFT) and help triage those injuries and illnesses that can be treated outside AED, as we have always done."

The new Walk In Centre will be situated on the ground floor in Linda McCartney Centre accessed off Mount Vernon Street. This follows last year's move of cancer services from the Linda McCartney Centre into the new Royal Liverpool University Hospital.

The walk-in centre at the Beat was unable to meet standards for improved services like diagnostics and X-ray facilities while it cannot provide adequate ambulance access, so Mersey Care declined to renew its lease for the premises.

Natalie Hudson, Executive Managing Director of the Royal Liverpool University Hospital said:- "Locating the centre close to the Hospital will see those people who come to our A&E with conditions that can be treated in a Walk In Centre, get faster access to the care they need close by. This will mean that our A&E teams can focus their skills on the patients who need them most."

The service at the Linda McCartney Centre will continue to be run by a team of highly skilled multidisciplinary staff, who can provide consultations, advice and treatment for minor injuries and illnesses. Opening times will also remain the same from 8am until 8pm, 7 days a week.

If you need same day urgent care, please contact:- 111.NHS.UK or call 111. It's available 24 hours a day, 7 days per week and they'll know the best service for your treatment need. 

Introducing Health Innovation North West Coast

THE Innovation Agency has been renamed Health Innovation North West Coast. The renaming follows NHS England's decision to relicense England's 15 Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) for a further 5 years until 2028.

The new title aims to better reflect the goals of Health Innovation North West Coast and its partner organisations; to boost the adoption and spread of innovations that improve patient outcomes.

Dr Phil Jennings, Chief Executive of Health Innovation North West Coast, said:- "I'm hopeful the new name will become familiar to our partners in the Region very quickly because our mission will remain the same, to drive the adoption of innovations that deliver better care. This new licence is recognition of the support we've given in the past decade to our colleagues in the health and care system as they tackle their challenges. It's also a mandate to continue building relationships with health service colleagues, industry, academia and the 3rd sector and bring a collaborative approach to spreading innovation."

The relicensing allows Health Innovation North West Coast to continue to support healthcare systems partners in their patient safety and care improvement work.

It will also continue projects to boost economic growth by supporting small companies; in the Region and overseas; that develop health and care innovations.

AHSNs were launched in 2013 to act as the innovation arm of the NHS, supporting the spread of all types of innovation in the health and care system, including:- new technologies, new ways of working and service improvements.

In the North West Coast, the Innovation Agency has in the last 10 years:-

Delivered Restore2 training, designed to improve patient care, in more than 400 care homes.
Established a safety improvement programme for maternity services in all 11 maternity units in the Region.
Secured £191m of inward investment.
Helped secure 689 jobs and supported more than 1,800 innovative companies.
Delivered coaching to around 3,000 individuals and teams.
Provided facilitation and coaching for system change programmes such as redesign of a pulmonary rehabilitation pathway; a new lipids pathway; development of a clinical and care system leadership framework.

AHSNs have delivered 11 national adoption and spread programmes and supported the rapid uptake of 28 NICE-approved products. These initiatives alone have benefited more than 2.3 million patients.

Since 2018, AHSNs have also helped to leverage investment of £1.8bn for the UK.

Picture caption: Health Innovation North West Coast staff