THE installation of an Urgent Care Centre (UCC) at the Alexandra Hospital will not cause the downgrading of the A&E in Redditch, MP Rachel Maclean has insisted.

Ms Maclean has appealed to bring forward the implementation of the UCC after it was promised during the recent consultation into Acute Services in Worcestershire last year, but hasn’t yet been delivered.

It has since been suggested that a UCC will see the downgrading of the hospital’s A&E - a claim that has been refused by Mc Maclean.

She said: “To suggest that the implementation of the Urgent Care Centre at the Alex will cause the downgrade of the A&E is pure mischief making.

"The Urgent Care Centre will work alongside the A&E, and to put about that A&E will be downgraded as a result is a deliberate lie.

"To clarify, the A&E at the Alex is a Type 1 A&E and national guidelines state that Urgent Care Centres can replace Types 3 and 4 only.

“In the recent past we have seen how the desires of local residents have been ignored by the authorities when health services have been removed – so if anyone was in any doubt, that is why this petition most certainly is needed.”

Rachel’s petition was launched at the end of February, to bring forward plans for the promised implementation of the UCC in Redditch.

The idea is to give parents much-needed peace of mind that their loved ones will be assessed, in a place familiar to them, especially for those who have difficulty travelling to Worcester.

The petition is available from rachelmaclean.uk.