Health bosses say they have listened to public feedback and will ensure Rutland's urgent care service will continue to offer walk in appointments when it has a revamp next year. 

But requests for longer operating hours and morning sessions at the service, based at Rutland Memorial Hospital on Oakham's Cold Overton Road, have been disregarded by the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Integrated Care Board (ICB), due to staffing capacity and finance constraints. 

Speaking at the health and wellbeing meeting at Rutland County Council's headquarters yesterday (December 2), the ICB's assistant director for transformation and integration Debra Mitchell said a new operating model had been agreed on – as well as a service provider – and mobilsation will start from next April. The name of the provider has not been made public. 

The service will change from the current separate minor injuries unit and urgent care service into a combined minor illness and minor injuries (MIMI) unit. 

It will be open from 1pm to 9pm every day of the week. 

The COO said a recent consultation, to which more than 1,300 people responded, had been listened to. She said that requests to run the service for 12 hours a day could not be met with the resources available. 

She said: "There are already plenty of morning appointments available in GP practices – there are not a lot of evening appointments. So, we've concluded that we will go with the original intention." 

But there will be some walk in appointments available, which had not been part of the original plan. 

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The COO added: "We will add in some walk-in slots. It will broadly be appointment based and you'll access appointments either through your GP or 111. 

"It's a same day service not an emergency service. It could be that someone walks in, and they won't be necessarily seen, they might be asked to come back at 2pm, when more slots become available." 

She said the walk in usage would be monitored. 

There will also be an extra day to offer more ultrasound appointments, and the health board is hoping to add in more X-ray provision. 

She said the ICB had already put in a bid to the council for community infrastructure funding to upgrade part of the hospital and would also put in a bid to replace the X-ray facilities. 

Chair of the committee Cllr Diane Ellison (Lib Dem) said local people would need to ensure they used the service if they wanted to ensure it remained.