Greg speaks up on Heaton Medical Centre and Walkergate Hospital issues

2.24.14pm GMT Thu 17th Dec 2009

Lib Dem parliamentary spokesman for Newcastle East Greg Stone has today held a preliminary meeting with NHS primary care trust officials regarding the proposed move of GP services from Heaton Road to a new site on the Walkergate Hospital campus.

There has already been a strong response to consultation on this issue, which is being assessed, and further meetings are anticipated between local councillors and PCT officials in the New Year.

Greg spoke up on issues of concern to local people, including the relative lack of GP provision in the High Heaton / Cochrane Park area, and highlighted the lack of good public transport links to allow people to get to the Walkergate site, including the difficult stair access at Walkergate Metro station. He is pressing for a common front between councillors, the NHS, and patients groups to lobby Nexus to ensure that the Walkergate Hospital site is well served by bus routes in the review of the local bus network anticipated in the spring, including reinstating a service on the former 3/49 route linking High Heaton and Cochrane Park with the Freeman and Walkergate hospitals.