Closing Accrington's walk-in centre would see an extra 12,000 a people a year descending on the town's nearest A&E department, it was claimed this week.

A survey buy a patients group found that around a third of those who responded said they would travel to the casualty department at Royal Blackburn Hospital A&E department if the walk in centre was to shut.

Around 36,000 visitors use the walk in centre, which has been threatened with  every week.

A questionnaire by the Patients Voice Group in East Lancashire and Hyndburn Council showed how 33 per cent of the 595 responders would travel to the 'already overburdened' to Blackburn for treatment.

Councillor Clare Pritchard, deputy leader of Hyndburn council, said she was how the A&E unit would be able to cope if the centre was to close.She added:  “In real terms an extra 12,000 would go to A&E if it was to close.

“That would not only put pressure on the A&E department but take up valuable time which might be needed for more serious cases.”

Coun Pritchard said patient satisfaction in the survey was also 'exceptionally high' with more than 90 per cent saying the walk in  centre was either 'excellent' or 'good'.

She told a meeting of an extraordinary meeting of the council called to discuss the walk in centre last week: “We fully understand that times are difficult for everybody in the public sector walk-in centres save not just lives but pounds too.

“The Keogh Report earlier this year stated it was already operating at tolerance limits so it really can't absorb any more visits.

”Health bosses at East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) have also revealed that around 80 per cent of the 36,000 visitors to the walk-in centre came from Hyndburn with the next largest majority coming from Haslingden.

The patients survey also revealed:n 32 per cent of walk-in centre patients visited because they could not get a GP appointment of their choice.

  • 30 per cent of people could not get an appointment with their GP in the urgency needed.
  • 10 per cent said their doctors surgery told them to visit the walk-in centre first.
  • 60 per cent tried to get a GP appointment first before attending the centre.
  • Double the number of people visit the centre on Monday's, Friday's and Saturday's compared to other days with half of patients visiting in the morning.