HEALTH services in Harlow were dealt another blow this week with the announcement that a popular walk-in centre for young people is to close in less than two weeks.
Staff at the One Stop Shop health suite in Occasio House were told the centre, which provides a range of support services including a free walk-in sexual health clinic for 13-25 year olds, will be axed at the end of the month because of funding and accommodation "issues".
There are fears the closure of the health suite in Playhouse Square will lead to a rise in sexually-transmitted infections and teenage pregnancies.
The news comes a week after Princess Alexandra Hospital revealed it was cutting 60 beds and losing up to 250 jobs in bid to save cash.
People using the OSS have now started a petition against the decision but say they have not been given enough time to make an impact.
"We have haven’t been given any time to fight this or to even find out what the other options are," said Chloe Loughlin (20), of Bushey Croft, who has been using the centre’s health services for more than seven years.
"I was stunned when I found out - the OSS is so much more than a sexual health clinic for young people in this town; it is a whole support unit that listens rather than passing judgement.
"The negative impact of this decision is going to be huge."
The mother of a teenager who regularly uses the facility said the closure was "disgusting".
"Harlow has always had one of the highest STD and teenage pregnancy rates and they are only going to go through the roof once OSS has been closed," she said.
"The only other option for youngsters will be the family planning clinic which is open at awkward times for a few hours on select days, often requires an appointment and doesn't know how to deal with young people.
"A lot of the kids won’t feel comfortable going there, and even if they did, how would the clinic cope with an extra 700 patients a month? I appreciate that we have to save money but at what cost?"
The Royal College of Nursing accused West Essex Primary Care Trust of failing to investigate alternative venues or sources of funding for the service and claimed no assessment of the potential impact of its closure on the local community had been carried out.
Mike Kavanagh, RCN regional officer for Essex, said: "The closure of this service will mean that many young people in the area will feel that they have nowhere to turn.
"This service is widely acknowledged to help reduce teenage pregnancies and STDs amongst young people. It is inde¬pendent, nurse-led and impartial. It is shortsighted of West Essex not to look at alternative venues and funding."
Harlow MP Robert Halfon said he was "100 per cent against" the closure.
"I was unaware of this decision by the PCT and am incredibly unhappy with it," he told the Star.
"The result will be fewer kids visiting the doctors and suffering for it. Plus it will clog up already overwhelmed GP surgeries.
"I don’t understand why the PCT are doing this, especially as they are getting an extra £12m funding from the Department of Health this year.
"It is shortsighted and I will be discussing it with them in depth."
A spokesman for NHS West Essex said the decision to close the OSS health suite had been difficult but insisted th service was no longer viable.
"The funding from Essex County Council finished earlier than expected which has caused issues with ensuring that there is an adequate staffing cover for safe working processes," he said.
"Furthermore, as a result of the dissolution of the multi-agency arrangements also using the premises the health component provided is no longer viable."
He added: "We will however continue to run the outreach chlamydia screening programme and patients will continue to have access to primary care services through general practice and pharmacies."
