A walk-in health centre in Newcastle is set to stay shut until later this year amid “significant” staff shortages.
The Westgate Road Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) has been temporarily closed since November last year, having suffered from a lack of available GPs and nurse practitioners to safely staff the site for months prior. A report to city councillors has now confirmed that the West End facility is now due to remain shut until at least the end of September.
Health chiefs say that the closure has helped to ensure more reliable services at Newcastle’s other two UTCs, at Ponteland Road in Cowgate and Molineux Street in Byker, though “ideal staffing coverage is still not being fully achieved”.
