A health centre which controversially closed two years ago despite strong opposition will today once again be serving the local community.

The Dussindale Community Clinic will be officially opened today at the building in Pound Lane, Thorpe St Andrew, which once housed a Walk-In Centre.

That centre, where people could head without an appointment, closed in 2009.

But families now once again have health facilities on their doorstep - because a new clinic has been created by the Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust (NCH&C).

The unit's three clinical rooms will be used by the trust to provide people with access to both leg ulcer and continence clinics, while it will also be used by NCH&C's Smokefree Norfolk to help people to stop smoking.

The clinic is to become a base for one of NCH&C's community nursing and therapy teams, from which they will visit patients to provide clinical care wherever they are needed – including patient's own homes and care homes.

Anna Morgan, NCH&C's director of service pathways, said: 'The opening of the Dussindale Community Clinic will enable NCH&C to offer patients access to a range of expert NHS services, such as stop smoking support and leg ulcer clinics, closer to their own homes.

'We will also continue to work closely with our patients and commissioners to assess the needs of local people with a view to possibly increasing the range of services based at the clinic in the future.

'The opening of the clinic is particularly exciting as it means the building, which has formerly been used by the local NHS, will once more be used to provide care to local people.

'NCH&C is very proud to have led on the redevelopment, which will greatly benefit local patients.'

The old walk-in centre, which closed in July 2009, used to see more than 5,000 patients a month for minor injuries and illnesses and offered out of hours services for when patients could not see their GP.

Since it closed, the building has been disused. There had been plans for a Sure Start children's centre at the vacated site, which would have incorporated parenting and childcare information, midwifery and other health services. The plans were abandoned at the end of last year due to Norfolk County Council cuts.

After the walk-in centre at Dussindale closed it was replaced by the new �2m Timber Hill Health Centre at The Mall, Norwich, which opened in July 2009. It opens from 7am to 9pm, seven days a week.

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