DOCTORS have secured more than £3million of government funding to build a 24-hour GP surgery outside the Royal Blackburn Hospital.

The project, proposed by GPs in Blackburn with Darwen and local NHS chiefs, was one of 37 new schemes in England to win cash from the Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund.

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It proposes to build a Primary Care Access Centre (PCAC) near the hospital’s helipad, close to the emergency department entrance off Haslingden Road, which would offer about 80 appointments per day.

The development, set to be among the first of its kind in the country, aims to transform the fortunes of the hospital’s emergency department, which has been struggling for several years with the sheer volume of patients turning up at the door.

The project will also offer about 65 extra appointments at existing surgeries across the borough each weekend, as well as about 22 extra slots each weekday evening.

The funding will cover 2015/16, after which Blackburn with Darwen Clinical Commissioning Group will take over responsibility for the service, which is expected to bring savings by reducing the need for expensive emergency care.

Patients would generally be referred to the PCAC by the triage nurse in A&E, or when they are unable to get an appointment at their own GP practice, but it could also take ‘walk-ins’.

The centre, staffed by the borough’s GPs on a rota basis. will cater for minor injuries and ailments, such as an infected wound, sprains or minor burns.

It will not serve patients with chronic or long-term conditions.

Dr Mohammed Umer, a GP at Darwen Healthcare and a member of Local Primary Care, a newly-formed federation of doctors in the borough, said: “We are delighted to receive the news that the application for the Prime Ministers Challenge Fund has been successful.

“We believe this will bring real change to improve access for patients.

“The population of Blackburn and Darwen will benefit from this pioneering and innovative approach to accessible general practice.

“The success of the application is a demonstration of the hard work and commitment of the clinical and managerial team we have in this area.”