Changes to Teddington Memorial Hospital - July 2018
In early July 2018, the Walk-In Centre at Teddington Memorial Hospital was combined with the collocated extended hours GP service to become an Urgent Treatment Centre.
Summary of changes
- NHS 111 being able to book an appointment for you at the Urgent Treatment Centre if they determine that you need one.
- People walking in may be offered an appointment at a specified time rather than having to wait an indeterminate period to be seen. This enables better use of the service’s capacity and patients’ time.
- The service will open 8am-8pm, closing two hours earlier than previously during the week and one hour earlier on weekends and bank holidays. However, GPs will be available for Richmond borough residents who need to see them, 8am-8pm, 7 days a week.
These changes appear to preserve the parts of the service that people value, as well as having the potential to improve the quality of care and secure the financial sustainability of the service.
Read more details about the services offered and what the changes mean to patients.
Our involvement
Throughout the planning process, we worked as a critical friend with both Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare Trust (HRCH) and Richmond CCG, highlighting the importance of walk-in appointments to many local patients. We advised them on communications around the changes and our recommendations resulted in the changes being introduced over a longer period of time and information being communicated more widely.
