Swindon is one of the worst-served towns in England for GP appointments, with average waiting times exceeding two weeks in August 2019 - months before the winter crisis that affects the NHS every year. An audit conducted in the summer months is not a credible basis on which to base a decision to close the centre.

The Walk-In Centre provides much needed care to people in need of urgent prescriptions, blood tests, changing of dressings and wound treatment. These are services not available at pharmacies or through NHS 111. Long waiting times and nurse shortages at GP surgeries mean that many people have no choice but to use the Walk-in centre. This closure will not be absorbed by Boots; it will increase the pressure on Great Western Hospital's already overstretched A&E department and ultimately put people’s wellbeing at risk.

We the undersigned call on the CCG to keep the vital Walk-In Centre open.