I’ve been contacted by lots of people with worries about the potential closure of the Rouen Road walk-in centre. We’re effectively being asked to choose by the Integrated Care Board between the promise of improved GP services *or* continuing to have a walk-in centre. It’s a completely false binary; the answer to the question is that we need both.

It’s no exaggeration to say that if they take away our walk-in centre, tens of thousands of us will miss it. And local voluntary organisations are telling me it’d be terrible for some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the city.

The timing would be truly dreadful too. Wages and benefits are lagging hugely behind soaring prices so we’re all getting poorer. There’s no doubt that increasing poverty, disadvantage and inequality means more people are getting ill. In the midst of this, it makes no sense at all to consider closing our walk-in centre.

During the passage of the Health and Care Act 2022 I warned about the stealth breakup of the NHS through the Integrated Care Board model. Where is the democracy, transparency, and accountability, in how decisions about health services are now made?

Take action

You can tell Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board that you both want to keep the Rouen Road walk-in centre AND improve GP services by responding to this survey. Deadline is 26 March – please respond and share.