HEALTH bosses are moving an out-of-hours GP surgery to a new permanent base after selling the building where it was originally based.

Darlington Clinical Commission Group (CCG) closed Doctor Piper House this week and patients are being re-directed to a temporary service at the Neasham Road Surgery.

The walk-in clinic will move into a new permanent base at Forsyth House on Woodland Road, nearer to the Darlington Memorial Hospital.

A spokeswoman for the CCG said: “The local NHS GP out of hour’s service provided by Primary Healthcare Darlington (PHD) is moving from Dr Piper House on King Street in Darlington to new premises at Forsyth House on Woodland Road as Dr Piper House has been sold.

“The service will be open at Forsyth House at the end of April. To ensure there is no break in service provision as there will be a gap between the service closing at Dr Piper House and opening at Forsyth House, the service will run from Neasham Road Surgery from this week – for a short period.

“Clinic times will remain the same and patients will still access appointments via the same route, either via their own GP practice who can book patients into an evening or weekend appointment or by calling NHS 111.”

In 2016, the CCG’s walk-in urgent care centre was relocated to the Memorial Hospital alongside the its Emergency Department which is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week for patients to walk into and be treated.

In the summer of 2012 the group reduced Doctor Piper’s opening hours to 8am to 5pm, with the overnight service transferred to the Memorial Hospital.

At time health bosses said the decision was made partly due to the low numbers of people using the service overnight but it did prompt fears among some members of the public that it signalled the start of the walk-in centre’s winding down.

The Urgent Care Centre opened at Doctor Piper House, in Darlington in 2005, at a cost of £2m with a remit to offer healthcare to non-emergency patients without an appointment.

A Darlington resident wrote to The Northern Echo to raise concerns about the loss of the town centre service after learning it was closing when he attended the clinic to access emergency treatment.

David Reed wrote: “Again Darlington’s townsfolk have lost another once well used and appreciated facility - a total disgrace for the town.”