Residents Rally for Health Hub in Reading

Neighbours support a walk-in health service in Reading town centre following the closure of the urgent care centre in one of the town’s main malls.

Neighbours in Reading want a town-centre walk-in health service after the urgent care centre in Broad Street Mall closed and moved to the Royal Berkshire Hospital on July 1 — about a half-hour walk away.

The Reading Urgent Care Centre at the mall used to take people without appointments for minor ailments and urgent issues including chest pain, breathing problems, skin complaints and emergency contraception.

There is a national conversation about turning empty shops into health hubs — for example, a former carpet showroom in Wakefield is now a community diagnostic centre, and Barnsley has a new health hub inside a shopping centre.

Local reaction was positive when the Local Democracy Reporting Service asked people in Reading about a town-centre health facility.

Terry Hall, from West Reading, sitting at the defunct bus stop in Broad Street, said: “I think it would be a great idea!

“I think it would be swamped! I used the walk-in centre at the Butts [Broad Street Mall] quite a few times. “If I wasn't able to see my own GP, they referred me to the walk-in, but you can't do that anymore in the Butts centre.”

He added: “Luckily, I'm in pretty good health for my age, so I tend not to use them. “My main theory is that if something is wrong, it's acute, you are supposed to call 111 and get advice from them. “I don't know, it just seemed to be a lot easier many years ago. “Doctors and GPs had continuity; they knew you, your mother, and your grandparents. Everything has just changed. “Some change is for the better, some isn't. But the demand is absolutely phenomenal, I get that.”

A man from Earley who works at a fashion store said: “I think it would be good. There are probably a few places in Broad Street where one could go. “I think it would be helpful, definitely.”

An elderly couple who live near the town centre also agreed a town-centre health facility would be useful.

People were asked for their views on Tuesday, November 25.

James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter