Concerned constituents told me about the potential closure of the Rouen Road walk-in centre. So, myself, the Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Norwich North, Alice Macdonald, and Labour activists in Norwich came together to start a campaign to save the centre.

Following months of relentless campaigning, it was announced that the walk-in centre on Rouen Road would not be closed.

Speaking up can change things and everyone in Norwich who campaigned to keep their walk-in centre made sure it survived.

Here are some of the things I did to help us save our walk-in centre.

May 2023 

After months of campaigning, bosses at NHS Norfolk and Waveney announced that the walk-in centre on Rouen Road will not be closing. Following this news, the Eastern Daily Press asked me for my thoughts, this is what I told them: 

“This shows that speaking up and speaking out can change things – it can affect change. 

I think the people of Norwich will be extremely pleased. I don’t think anyone believed the changes would cater for them. 

Now we must make sure that they [NHS Norfolk and Waveney] don’t make changes elsewhere that negatively affect the city.” 

Norwich North’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Labour, Alice Macdonald, Norwich Labour and myself, campaigned for months to keep the Rouen Road walk-in centre open. 

The over 8,000 people who signed the petition to save the walk-in centre played a key role in this decision. 

Read the full article from the Eastern Daily Press here. 

March 2023 

Alice Macdonald and I, along with local campaigners, handed in a petition to Norwich County Hall with over 2300 signatures demanding that Rouen Road walk-in centre must be kept open. 

Read the Norwich Evening News article on the petition hand in here. 

Read my statement on the need to keep the walk-in centre open. 

February 2023 

I told That’s TV that the people of Norwich should not have to choose between having a walk-in centre on Rouen Road and improving GP services. I refuse to accept this false binary. The reality is our community needs both. 

Watch my interview with That’s TV here. 

January 2023 

After being contacted by concerned constituents with worries about the potential closure of the Rouen Road walk-in centre, I was asked by the Eastern Daily Press for my comment. 

I told them that if Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board closed the Rouen Road walk-in centre in Norwich, tens of thousands of us would miss it. 

There’s no doubt that increasing poverty, disadvantage, and inequality means more people are getting ill. During this, it makes no sense at all to consider closing our walk-in centre. 

Read my article in the Eastern Daily Press here.