Cricklewood walk-in service is closing

The Cricklewood walk-in service that ran from Cricklewood Health Centre is to close on 30 June 2020 following the decision announced in February 2020. The GP practice at Cricklewood Health Centre remains open to new and existing patients and Brent residents have a wide range of alternative health care available to them.

The NHS in Brent and Barnet made the joint decision to close the walk-in service which followed an episodic model of care following a joint public engagement in August to October 2019. The NHS in Brent is encouraging residents to register with a GP practice to access continuing and preventative health care services and reminding them of the wide range of alternative healthcare services that are available:

• Not registered with a GP practice? Brent has 52 GP practices in Brent, with several located near to Cricklewood Health Centre. It is really important that residents register with a GP practice to access the full range of continuing and preventative health care. Residents are encouraged to sign up to a practice of interest via the practice website or to telephone the practice for further details.
• Get a GP appointment -- registered patients can make an appointment by telephoning their practice or using the online e-consult system on the practice website.
• GP weekend and evening appointments – patients can telephone their GP practice or call 111 to arrange an ‘extended access’ appointment.

• E-consult – Brent’s ‘e-consult’ online electronic consultation service lets patients submit a request for an e-consultation by filling in a form on their GP practice website to which they will receive a response within one working day.
• Urgent treatment centre –Brent’s urgent treatment centre is located at Northwick Park Hospital and open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for urgent but not life-threatening conditions.
• NHS 111 – patients who are not sure which service to access, or think they may have coronavirus, should visit https://111.nhs.uk/ or call 111.

In line with national guidance, the walk-in service has been closed for walk-in appointments since the end of March 2020 and GP practices have moved to a remote total triage system, to protect patients and staff from coronavirus. Most patients have a telephone or video appointment with their GP and only those patients that really need one are invited in for a face to face appointment. Many  patients enjoy the convenience of a remote appointment which avoids the need for travel.

More information: 

• Brent CCG website
• How to register with a GP practice
• When to visit an urgent care centre
• The proposal to close Cricklewood walk-in service on 30 June 2020 was approved by the Primary Care Committees of Barnet and Brent Clinical Commissioning Groups along with a number of other recommendations to support the implementation of the decision.
• The report on the decision to close the Cricklewood walk-in service can be seen here