PEOPLE who attend a revamped medical centre may not be treated if their condition is not urgent.

The Weymouth and Portland Community Urgent Care Centre (CUCC) opens its doors on July 1 and replaces the Minor Injuries Unit and Walk-in Centre at Weymouth Community Hospital.

The new-look centre aims to provide a single point of access and ease pressure on the accident and emergency centre at Dorset County Hospital.

At a stakeholders meeting in February, which the Dorset Echo was invited to, patients were assured that the new centre would continue to be available to people who were unable to get a GP appointment at their own clinic.

But provider Dorset HealthCare has now released further details - and says that patients will be directed to their own GP or pharmacy if their condition is not urgent.

A spokesman confirmed that everyone who attends will be assessed by a GP to determine if their condition is urgent.

The centre will be located in the same part of Weymouth Hospital, in Melcombe Avenue, as the existing MIU and Walk-in Centre, and offer seven-day X-ray facilities. 

Dorset HealthCare will run the service from 8am to 11pm and the out-of-hours service will run from 11pm to 8am as it is currently.

Helen Persey, Weymouth Locality Manager for Dorset HealthCare, said: “The CUCC will see local services working in partnership to deliver quality care and support to people in Weymouth and Portland.

“It is the first centre of its kind anywhere in Dorset. Having a single service will be less confusing for patients, and we are confident it will offer better, more accessible care when people need it most.

“We aim to relieve the pressure on DCH’s emergency department – though anyone with a serious injury or illness should still head there for help.

“Likewise, the CUCC is not a substitute for GP treatment. People will be referred to their GP or community pharmacy if the problem is not urgent. We will be encouraging self-management where appropriate.

“However, if people do need urgent treatment between the hours of 8am and 11pm, the centre will be the place to go. If it operates as successfully as we believe it will, this model could be rolled out to other parts of Dorset.”