The head of a GP-led group in Norwich has warned that 'time is not on our side' to secure the future of a busy NHS walk-in centre in the city.

Jonathon Fagge, chief executive officer of Norwich Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), helped commission Timber Hill Health Centre as a management consultant in 2009. However, a question mark was raised over the future of the GP practice and walk-in centre as a result of Castle Mall restaurant redevelopment plans.

The owners of the shopping centre have offered Norwich Practices Ltd (NPL), which runs Timber Hill Health Centre, an alternative home on level two of the Mall. However, Mr Fagge said there were lots of 'complexities' about the walk-in centre moving because of relocation costs and 'conflicting' NHS advice on how to best manage urgent care.

Norwich CCG took over control of local NHS purse strings in April 2013 following a reform of health services. However, the CCG plays a 'very limited role' in the Timber Hill Health Centre problem because NHS England, which has a regional base in Cambridge, is responsible for commissioning primary care services.

In his weekly blog, Mr Fagge said: 'If we measure success on its popularity it has been a triumph. It meets a need - or at the very least a significant number of wants - for our population seeking help or advice from the NHS. It's current problem highlights the challenges we have in designing services for our population, and in managing the current split in responsibilities across different commissioning organisations. This isn't beyond the wit of the NHS to resolve, but there will have to be some fairly extensive discussions about who foots how much of the bill for any relocation. Time is not on our side.'

The owners of Castle Mall, InfraRed, has offered to pay around 40pc of the refit costs for the walk-in centre to move from level four to two of the site. However, officials from NPL said they could not afford the higher rents and relocation costs.

Mr Fagge added: 'There are opportunities here of course, but the final complexity is the emerging and conflicting advice and evidence about how best to manage urgent care. There are models for walk-in or urgent care centres co-located with the local hospitals. Some parts of the country are developing primary care hubs in their larger GP surgeries with extended hours across the weekend. Some are keeping their walk-in centres just as they are to act as an intermediate facility between general practice and A&E, and trying to take some of the pressure off both. We may not commission primary care, but we do commission A&E, and access to one clearly affects demand for the other.'

'A two year contract extension to give us a year to analyse the emerging evidence and agree the best future model for the city, and then a year to properly commission and mobilise it would have been ideal. Instead we will have to work with NHS England to develop an interim as well as a long term solution, while absolutely minimising the cost to the taxpayer, and maintaining good access to care for local people.'

How has the health centre helped you? Email adam.gretton@archant.co.uk