Updated:
4:32 PM January 18, 2021
The Urgent Care Centre at The New QEII Hospital in Welwyn Garden City. Picture: Alan Davies
- Credit: Alan Davies
Facing a surge in COVID-19 patients, East and North Herts NHS Trust decided to close the New QEII in Welwyn Garden City from 10pm to 8am last week so it could direct nurses to the Lister in Stevenage.
These are the same hours the urgent care centre was looked at being shut under a proposal by the East and North Herts Clinical Commissioning Group, which manages NHS services, back in 2019.
And now an NHS spokesperson has said: “This emergency, short-term arrangement will remain in place while the Lister continues to face extreme staffing challenges and the trust has committed to reviewing it weekly.