HEALTH bosses should re-open the NHS walk-in centre in the heart of the town to help tackle overcrowding in A&E, a Bolton MP says.

David Crausby, MP for Bolton North East, has tabled an early day motion in parliament calling on the government to push Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) to resurrect the shut centres, including Lever Chambers.

His campaign — which has attracted the support of 43 MPs from across the country so far — was launched after the Royal Bolton called a "major incident" in January as the number of patients in its accident and emergency reached unsafe levels.

Mr Crausby said he believes the closure of the walk-in centre in Ashburner Street in July 2012 has led to more people turning up at A&E.

He added: “The walk-in centre in town was easy to access and convenient for a lot of people. I know many people used it if they couldn’t get a GP appointment for a while but knew that their situation wasn’t suitable for A&E.

“At the time the CCG claimed closing it would make patients access services in the right places, but now the pressure on A&E and GPs is just too much and patients are being put at risk.

“I’ve heard similar stories from other parts of the country and I hope MPs will join me to call on the government to support the NHS and provide important services like walk-in centres where they are needed.”

The nurse-led walk in centre first opened in 2003, but was closed in 2012 after health chiefs said instead of taking pressure off A&E, it created ‘a demand that hadn’t been there before’.

A spokesman for the Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group said they were investing £3.4 million into GP practices across the borough — potentially creating an extra 56,000 appointments — which would help reduce pressure on A&E.

He added: “We found that the majority of people who used the walk -in centre could have been treated elsewhere.

“Most attended at times when their GP practice and local pharmacies were open.

“Nearly half were told to get additional care from their GP practice and more than 2,000 people each year were sent on to A&E.

“We did not see an immediate increase in demand at A&E following the closure of the walk in centre.

“The main cause of current pressures on A&E departments nationally is the number of frail elderly residents becoming very ill due to serious and complex health conditions."

Mr Crausby’s early day motion to parliament calls for MPs to support: “That this house believes that it is unacceptable to shut accident and emergency (A&E) departments when patients have nowhere else to seek treatment; notes that NHS walk-in centres played a major role in reducing the numbers of patients attending A&E; and calls on the government to encourage clinical commissioning groups right across the country to reintroduce walk-in centres.”