MANY of you who read this paper will know that Accrington Victoria Walk-in Centre has been threatened with closure yet again.

This is the fifth time as in as many years that local health bosses in the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) are threatening closure.

Constituents I have spoken to are extremely unhappy about this.

Local people know the walk-in centre provides an essential service, in some cases a life-saving service and concerned about long waits for a GP appointment and the impact a closure will have on a clogged up Blackburn A+E.

I have continually said to the CCG that they are working to close Accrington Victoria walk-in centre.

Kimberley Whitehead, Chris Reed, Shaheed Mahmood and countless others have banded together to campaign to keep it open.

So far they have made a valiant effort – collecting nearly 13,000 signatures online and 7,000 on paper.

You may have seen them out in Accrington town centre on a wet weekday afternoon handing out leaflets and collecting signatures.

The public has been marvellous in responding.

The fact is there were 42,000 patient visits at the walk-in centre last year.

Where will they go if not the walk-in centre?

The average cost of a visit to the walk-in centre is £60 but to A&E it is £120.

It is a false economy to shut the walk-in centre.

The petition is for the unelected local health bosses at the CCG and the people who run it, our local GPs, who will ultimately make the decision to close the centre down for good. Changes made by the Government mean it is local doctors who will make this closure decision.

This is why more people who care about the future of the NHS in Accrington need to sign the petition for the CCG.

The walk-in centre has proved to be over the years by its process, a place where people triage themselves.

Decide whether it is worth a two-hour wait.

The new extended hours GP service, however, provides nothing more than extra GP slots leaving those in need of an urgent appointment that day, without one and certainly not a guaranteed appointment within two hours which the walk-in centre provides.