North Wales health board consults on closing three urgent care centres
Campaigners in north Wales have warned patients would lose a same-day care option after the region’s health board confirmed it is consulting on closing urgent care services at three hospitals. The BBC reported on Saturday, 31 October, that Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board is reviewing urgent primary care centres at Ysbyty Penrhos Stanley in Holyhead, Ysbyty Alltwen in Tremadog and Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor, and that they would shut by 31 March 2027 if the proposal goes ahead.
The board blamed funding constraints and continuing difficulty recruiting and keeping staff, with the centres relying more and more on temporary cover. A letter from the board’s head of service for managed practices in the west, Keith Amos, said approval had been given to begin a formal organisational change consultation on ending the service from that date.
The centres opened across Gwynedd and Anglesey in 2022 with Welsh Government funding, to give GP surgeries extra capacity and cut unnecessary visits to emergency departments. Staffed by advanced nurse practitioners, GPs and physiotherapists, they treat urgent problems on the same day. They are not drop-in clinics: patients contact their GP practice first, which decides on a referral. They open on weekday rotas between 9am and 6pm. Urgent care services at Mold Community Hospital and Wrexham Maelor Hospital would not be affected.
Why it matters
Opponents say closing the centres would push demand onto GP practices and emergency departments. Holyhead county councillor Jeff Evans said shutting the Holyhead facility would bring “dire consequences for the community and patients”. Janet Finch-Saunders, the Conservative Member of the Senedd for Bangor Conwy Môn, is campaigning to save the Penrhos Stanley centre and has written to the Cabinet Minister for Health and Care asking him to intervene. Penrhos Stanley already lost its four-bed hospice unit in 2025.
What happens next
The board’s chief executive, Carol Shillabeer, said the organisation was reviewing its current provision and talking to staff, and that the outcome would be developed over the coming months. The Welsh government said decisions about local NHS services rest with the health board, but it expects open and transparent engagement with stakeholders. If the proposal is approved, the three centres would close on 31 March 2027.
This article is for general information and education only. It is not legal or financial advice.
Sources
- https://worldrightnowlive.com/story/closing-urgent-care-centres-would-have-dire-consequences-objectors-say (World Right Now, reporting from BBC News, 31 October 2026)
- https://www.janetfinchsaunders.org.uk/news/ms-stands-hospital-services-ynys-mon (Janet Finch-Saunders MS, 26 October 2026)
- https://bcuhb.nhs.wales/services/urgent-primary-care-centres-upcc/ (Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, accessed 1 November 2026)
