Our two local NHS walk-in centres will remain open for at least eight more months. NHS Bury CCG has confirmed that the centres, at Prestwich and within Moorgate Primary Care Centre in Bury, will remain operational until at least March 31 2018.

The CCG says that: “The CCG remains committed to the redesign of urgent care services in Bury in order to ensure the best possible care for the GP registered population of Bury. We will communicate further updates on the next steps in this process following the release of further national and Greater Manchester guidance.”

The public consultation on the future of urgent care services in Bury was paused in March to allow for the release of further national guidance. Since then it has been confirmed that the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership is also considering the composition of urgent care services across Greater Manchester. Current indications are that it is likely to be September 2017 at the earliest before this further guidance is released.

The consultation will remain paused until the further guidance is received.

Earlier this year the Liberal Democrats collected a significant number of petition signatures, handed into the CCG before it considered the closure. Thank you to everyone who supported this campaign – this was the only petition received by the CCG.

Our view is that it is great that the centres get a reprive for another 8 months, but the fight to keep them open is far from over.

Full story Bury Times.