Walk this way

THERE must be something about Easter, laughs Patricia Brooke. She and her husband Aubrey always seem to spend at least part of it at the NHS Walk-in Centre in Monkgate. Two years ago it was becuase of her husband. "He had an ulcer on his leg," she explains. "I had never seen one before and I didn't know what it was. It didn't hurt him, but it just grew and grew. He wouldn't see the doctor, but I nattered away at him until he came in here."

His ulcer was quickly diagnosed and he was referred for treatment. So impressed was 73-year-old Mrs Brooke that when, last Easter, she developed an itchy rash on her foot, she knew straight away where to come. "I couldn't have gone to see the doctor, because it's very difficult to see a doctor on the holiday weekend," she says. "I came here, got some ointment, and in about five days it had cleared up."

This time, it's what she suspects is a bee sting on her leg. "I didn't feel it happen," she says, "but the following morning there was a huge patch, deep crimson."

The ailments she and her husband have turned to the walk-in centre with are fairly typical. During the past three years, since it first opened, nurses at the centre have treated more than 70,000 patients. On average, more than 100 people use it every day. Many are local: others, especially in the tourist season, are visitors who might otherwise spend hours sitting in A&E.

The most common complaints dealt with, says walk-in centre manager Liz Vickerstaff, are skin complaints such as rashes, stings, minor cuts and bruises and nappy rash, followed by infections of the eye and ear.

But there are a host of other complaints the team of nurses working from the centre are trained to deal with: everything from sprains and strains to coughs and colds, headaches, indigestion, dressing of wounds, support for those giving up smoking and emergency contraception.

Many of the nurses have received extended training in specialist areas such as eye infections, and they can prescribe certain medicines for minor ailments, such as eye drops, antibacterial skin creams and certain antibiotics.

Some of the nurses, such as senior nurse Elaine Harrison, have also qualified as "extended nurse prescribers", which means they can prescribe a wider range of drugs.

It's a role and a responsibility they clearly relish - "I couldn't imagine going back to working any other way!", says Elaine - and one which helps ease the burden on the city's already overworked GPs.

The real beauty of the walk-in centre for patients, however, is how easy it is to use. You don't need to make an appointment: simply turn up any day of the week, Bank Holidays included, between 7am to 10pm and you can be sure of being seen.

That can be hugely reassuring for a mum who isn't sure whether the temperature her baby develops at the weekend merits a trip to A&E or not.

Any problems the nurses cannot deal with, Liz Vickerstaff adds, will be swiftly referred on. Staff at the centre have good links with A&E and York hospital's eye department, for example, as well as having the out-of-hours emergency doctors service in the same building.

Mrs Brooke, who lives in Fulford, describes the work the centre does as "absolutely invaluable."

"They take down all your particulars, so they know as much about you as your own doctor does. But if I tried to get an appointment with my own doctor, I would probably have to wait a week. Of course, I can understand that he has to see really ill people, but this is marvellous," she says.

"Everybody is most efficient and professional, and you don't have to wait too long."

A quick look at the comments book kept by staff at the reception desk reveals she's not the only one satisfied with the service the walk-in centre provides.

"A wonderful service, thank you," one woman has written. Another adds; "I am extremely grateful to be seen at such short notice."

The good news this week is that, on its third anniversary - the walk-in centre opened its doors for the first time on April 24, 2000 - staff are celebrating winning funding to remain open for three more years.

That will allow further developments in the service, such as working with the ambulance service to treat patients who have called for help but don't need to attend A&E, and working with patients with a range of mental health problems.

"Obviously, we're delighted," says Liz Vickerstaff. "We had three years of funding initially, and now the Department of Health and the Selby and York Primary Care Trust are continuing that for another three years.

"It is good news, because our reason for being is so that patients can just come in through the door. We are all about being here for patients."

u The York NHS Walk-in Centre in Monkgate, York, is open 7am-10pm daily, 365 days a year. The Selby and York Primary Care Trust also operates a 24-hour Minor Injuries department at Selby War Memorial Hospital.

Updated: 09:51 Monday, April 21, 2003