What is an Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) or Walk-in Centre?
Urgent Treatment Centres (UTCs) are also called or Urgent Care Centres (UCCs) or Urgent Care Units (UCUs). They have similar services to Minor Injury Units (MIUs), and they both are usually in or near an A&E in a hospital. Most do not require an appointment. They are also called Walk-in Centres. ‘UTC’ will be used as a name for both on this page.
They look after people with new illnesses (that need to be seen rapidly) who do not necessarily need to go to A&E.
What are UTCs and Walk-in centres for?
They are for many more and less serious conditions. Here are some examples.
- Mild chest pain
- Mild abdominal pain
- Headache
- Shortness of breath
- Swollen leg (DVT?)
- Minor injuries – in this way they are similar to minor injury/illness units (see above)
- Minor illnesses – ditto
- Back pain – especially acute (recent) back pain
- Getting emergency contraception
- Getting an emergency prescription.
A full list can be found here on the NHS website.
Who do you see there?
You may see a GP or other doctor there, or a specialised nurse. They can discuss your care with other hospital doctors – including consultants, who are supported by registrars and junior doctors.
Do you need an appointment?
No. You can walk into most UTCs without an appointment and you will usually be seen quicker in these units than in A&E; because they do not have to ‘park’ patients in beds whilst they wait to be admitted to hospital.
If you are found to need admission to hospital during your UTC visit, assessment in A&E can be arranged by the staff there. MyHSN also describes what happens when you get to A&E.
Check information about your local UTC here (on the NHS website) before you go, because some require you to book an appointment. There are three main ways to get seen there:
- Ring the UTC on the number provided on their website
- Ring NHS111, and an appointment can be made at your local UTC
- Walk in off the street (you may be turned away if it is an appointment-only service).
Out of hours, weekends and bank holidays
Both Minor Injury Units and Urgent Treatment Centres are good places to go out of hours, at weekends, on bank holidays and out of hours. MyHSN has more information on which parts of the NHS works at weekends and bank holidays – not much for either.
Summary
We have described what is an Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) or Walk-in Centre. Yes it is confusing that there are so many names for roughly the same thing. To make things work, there are also areas in or near A&Es called AECUs and SDECs, which are not dissimilar, and not totally different from UTCs etc. The NHS is trying to simplify this at present.
