Published on January 24, 2006 at 3:17 PM
This week will see the opening of the first two walk in medical centres in Britain.
The National Health centres will enable commuters going to work in busy cities to access medical facilities on their way to and from the office.
The centres at London's Liverpool Street and Manchester's Piccadilly train stations, will be open for business from 7 am to 7 pm and appointments will not be needed.
They are the first of ten planned centres and according to Health minister Patricia Hewitt, are a response to public demand and are also in keeping with the change in people's expectations.
Other centres are planned for King's Cross and Victoria train stations and Canary Wharf in London, and at Newcastle and Leeds stations.
The centres expect to deal with as many as 180 patients each day, and will offer treatment for minor injuries and illnesses as well as provide prescriptions and healthcare advice.
The move has been met with approval from the Patients Association who say that apart from creating easier access to medical professionals the pressure will be to some extent taken off local G.Ps and hospital accident and emergency departments.
Also in Hewitt's pipeline are plans to keep doctors surgeries open longer and for nurses and pharmacists to be given greater powers to prescribe medicines.