Tenby’s nurse led walk-in centre has been hailed a success with more than 6,000 patients seen in its first 15 months.

A review of the centre, developed by Hywel Dda Health Board at Tenby Cottage Hospital in 2017, was commended at a full board meeting on November 29.

Director of primary care, community and long term care Jill Paterson said that 76 per cent – 4,346 – of the 6,068 patients were “seen, treated and discharged from the service.”

The most common issues were minor injuries, soft tissue damage and minor abrasions.

A total of 1,228 were referred to another service such as GP or hospital and 496 were “out of scope.”

Around 400 patients a month attended the centre, increasing to more than 600 patients in the busy summer period, with 44 per cent coming from the Tenby postcode area.

The aim had been for the service to be run by advanced nurse practitioners but there had been problems recruiting. This limited the “scope” of the minor injury service to what could be dealt with by emergency nurse practitioners.

An x-ray service, with reporting radiographer two days a week, is also available on site which had been “positively received by the local community and staff felt able to meet the need of individuals using that service.”

A reduction in visitors to Withybush accident and emergency was not seen and “some of those could have accessed Tenby walk-in centre” added Ms Paterson.

She added: “Those 6,000 patients would have gone somewhere else but were served well through that service.”

The review states that more publicity is needed to raise awareness of the service and the conditions it treats, consideration to extending the opening hours and staffing model as well as developing partnerships with the ambulance service.