Urgent care centre plan approved amid NHS review

Construction of a new building for an Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) will start after hospital was given permission to begin.

Good Hope Hospital received approval from Birmingham City Council after more than £8m of funding was awarded to the project by NHS England last year.

Simon Jarvis, from the hospital, said the new building would house the UTC along with more specialist emergency care, "helping ensure patients are seen by the right clinician, in the right place, at the right time".

The building in Sutton Coldfield is expected to open to patients in spring 2027.

The announcement comes as NHS Birmingham and Solihull carries out a review of the city's UTC and GP out-of-hours services.

Birmingham has five UTCs, which provide care for urgent but non-life-threatening illness and injury, in Sutton Coldfield, Erdington, Washwood Heath, Selly Oak and Summerfield.

The NHS said it was exploring how services could be made to be "more responsive to local population needs" and proposed two options for the future, both of which would mean closures for particular UTCs and new hospital-based ones.

Under both options, North Birmingham UTC would move permanently to Good Hope Hospital and be upgraded to meet national standards.

The NHS said this week that bringing services together in this new building would "streamline patient pathways" and "improve the quality of care while reducing delays".

Good Hope Hospital's emergency department will remain open throughout the UTC construction while a temporary traffic management system and clear pedestrian signs are in place.

The NHS said the new UTC at Good Hope Hospital was considered as part of the review of the city's health services but "falls outside its scope" because it was funded nationally by NHS England.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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