THURROCK Clinical Commissioning Group has spoken out following Wednesday’s anouncement that the Grays walk-in centre will close.

Following a consultation ran in February and March, the CCG said a unanimous decision was taken by its governing body to close the centre, which is part of the Thurrock Health Centre in the High Street.

The consultation gave three options: keep the centre open and carry on as before, re-tender with a new specification for the service, or close the centre and reinvest in four local GP hubs.

The CCG said a key theme from the report showed that individual’s access to their GP was the greatest concern, including the difficulty of getting routine and urgent GP appointments and a desire to see GP opening hours extended to evening and weekends.

Respondents also felt that there needed to be better use of resources.

The closure was the preferred option of the CCG, and of Thurrock MP Jackie Doyle-Price.

Ms Doyle-Price came under criticism from her political rivals for her stance but was clear in stating she wanted to see residents across Thurrock, not just Grays, offered more health choices.

Dr Anand Deshpande, Chair of Thurrock CCG, said: “On behalf of the CCG Governing Body I am pleased that we have come to a decision that I feel is the best for all Thurrock residents. Closing the Walk in service and reinvesting the money into the local health hubs where people can access weekend GP and nurse appointments closer to where they live is truly a step in the right direction.

“The walk in service will not close until March 2016. This will give us, along with patient involvement, nine months to consider the most effective way of investing the funds saved from the closure.”

“We are grateful to everyone who shared their views in our questionnaire and came along to our public events. We looked very carefully at the results and with our unique perspective of the clinical needs of patients we have reached a decision that we believe is the best for the residents of Thurrock.”

Now a decision has been made, the CCG will draw up implementation plans for developing the hubs. These plans will come back to the Governing Body for review and approval in July.

The GP service based at the centre is unaffected by the decision.