Lewisham Clinical Commissioning Group are planning to close New Cross Walk-In Centre.

The closure would be bad for our community. The Walk-In Centre is well-used, and well-valued by the local community. The closure would reduce access to primary healthcare in our area, which is one of the most deprived in London. It would have a particularly significant impact on homeless people and on undocumented migrants. 82% of respondents to the consultation opposed the closure, as do the local Councillors, Vicky Foxcroft MP, and the Save Lewisham Hospital Campaign.

The closure would be bad for Lewisham Hospital. The consultation itself found that 40% of patients using the Walk-In Centre would use Lewisham Hospital if it was closed. This would represent 11,800 additional patients visiting Lewisham Hospital each year, at a time when it is already struggling to meet demand; Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust has missed the A&E waiting time target every month for over 2 years. And the closure is terribly timed; the Walk-In Centre would close on 31st December, just as we head into another winter crisis for the NHS.  

We the undersigned are calling on Lewisham CCG to cancel the planned closure, to keep New Cross Walk-In Centre open, and to go back to the drawing board, involving local residents and clinicians in a genuine discussion about the future of local primary healthcare.