| The young people, part of a Young Inspectors programme delivered by Tees Valley YMCA and Darlington Borough Council were given a tour of the Urgent Care Centre and Darlington Health Centre, both based at Dr Piper House.
The young people are trained to become inspectors and then discuss and research local services with a view to inspecting them. Already, they have conducted 10 inspections of services in Darlington with their main themes being:
• Is the service accessible to all?
• Is the service welcoming to young people?
• Are young people involved in planning of improvements?
• How satisfied are young people with the service?
• Is it clear what your service does?
The young people visited the Urgent Care Centre, one of six centres across County Durham and Darlington that offer urgent care for non life threatening conditions such as fractures, fevers, cuts, strains and sprains. The Urgent Care Centre at Dr Piper House is open 24-hours a day, 365 days a year and was formerly known as the Walk in Centre.
The Darlington Health Centre, also based at Dr Piper House is open from 8am-8pm seven days a week, 365 days per year.
The practice is currently registering patients and in addition any member of the public can walk in and see a health professional or phone and book an appointment in advance by calling 01325 746350. They don’t need to be registered with the centre.
The centre is one of 150 in the country, introduced to offer extended and improved access to GP services.
John Moran, Head of Urgent Care and Carol Bean, Practice Manager at Darlington Health Centre were on hand to provide the young inspectors with background information about the services available and took them on a guided tour of Dr Piper House.
Dr Hussain, a GP based in the Health Centre and Kate Ward, an Emergency Care Practitioner in the Urgent Care Centre both gave an outline of their roles at Dr Piper House. Dr Hussain explained that the Health Centre provided extra flexibility for people who live out of the town but work in Darlington and need to access a GP. Kate explained how her role in the Urgent Care Centre can see her offering a wide range of services to young people, including advice on contraception and sexual health.
John Moran, Head of Urgent Care said: “We really enjoyed having the Young Inspectors visit us at Dr Piper House and hoped they gained an insight into the different services available through the Urgent Care Centre and the Health Centre, which are both based here.
“We look forward to receiving the report of their visit and would welcome any feedback they have about improving services for young people.”
Carol Bean, Practice Manager at Darlington Health Centre said: “Our focus is very much on looking to fill the gaps in services and we are keen to ensure that young people have access to health services when they need them and where they need them.
“At the moment we are looking to establish a patient group and would welcome the input of young people so we can involve them more closely in the planning stage.
Marlene Redfearn from Tees Valley YMCA said: “At Tees Valley YMCA we are really excited about delivering the Young Inspectors’ Programme in partnership with Darlington Borough Council’s Youth Service, it gives young people the chance to have a voice within local services.
“The services benefit from recommendations suggested by the young people to improve and be more accessible for the youth community.”
For more information about the programme, contact Marlene on 07702903910.
ENDS
Note to editors
Caption for attached jpeg: Young Inspectors from Tees Valley YMCA pictured outside Dr Piper House in Darlington. From L to R are John Moran, head of urgent care; Michael Maven, Stephanie White, Lisa Maven and Carol Bean, practice manager at Darlington Health Centre.
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A group of young inspectors from Darlington have visited Dr Piper House in the town to find out about health services from their perspective. 
