Temporary overnight closure of Newark Urgent Care Centre extended as part of on-going response to Covid-19

Posted Monday, June 29, 2020 3:32 PM

Temporary overnight closure of Newark Urgent Care Centre extended as part of on-going response to Covid-19

Correct at time of print. The Newark Urgent Care Centre is currently open until 10pm (last patient walk in 9pm) as of September 2021.

As part of the unprecedented pressures on the NHS and our Trust-wide response to Covid-19, the Urgent Care Centre (UCC) at Newark Hospital will continue be closed between 9.30pm and 9am for an additional six months from 6 July 2020. 

The overnight closure was initially introduced in April of this year as part of the Trust response to Covid-19 to ensure patients are looked after in a way that best protects the public during this period of continued immense pressure due to coronavirus. 

Richard Mitchell, Chief Executive for Sherwood Forest Hospital said: 

“This is a planned move in order for us to maintain a safe level of staffing, to focus staff where we need them the most during this challenging time and to mitigate any staff absence due to Covid-19. 

“We did not believe we would have been able to guarantee we could safely continue to staff Newark UCC overnight, whilst also providing the level of staff required to care for Covid patients across the Trust. Whilst the number of Covid positive patients we are caring for has reduced, we are now addressing the more complicated issue of safely restoring services. 

“We do not anticipate the current issues around staffing to ease in the near future, with the impact of antibody testing for all colleagues and the potential for groups of colleagues to be required to isolate as part of Test and Trace protocols making it difficult to plan staffing levels with confidence. 

“We know the number of patients seen overnight at Newark is traditionally low and was reducing further at the start of the pandemic, and we thank partners and colleagues for safely helping us introduce these measures. 

“We have always worked closely with Clinical Commissioning Group colleagues and other health partners regarding our service offer at Newark Hospital and in this instance we are collectively agreed this is in the best interest of patients and the overall health services in our area. Patients can always get urgent support for their health needs through accessing 111 online or over the phone. 

“Newark Hospital remains a key part of the overall emergency care service at Sherwood Forest Hospitals, and we have also introduced new services at Newark including some elective surgery and outpatient appointments. We restarted elective surgery at Newark Hospital on 10 June which was before we were able to at King’s Mill.” 

The Urgent Care Centre will be open from 9am until 9.30pm and operating as usual during this time, allowing for walk-in patients to attend for urgent care needs. 

Anyone who needs urgent care between 9.30pm and 9am is asked to attend their next nearest Urgent Care facility or to access NHS111 online or over the phone for advice. The 111 service will be able to provide advice about whether patients need an overnight consultation and get clinical advice where required. In an emergency, you should phone 999.

Correct at time of print. The Newark Urgent Care Centre is currently open until 10pm (last patient walk in 9pm) as of September 2021.

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