WALK-IN Centres in Stapleford and Kirkby-in-Ashfield will be closed and their services transferred to nearby doctors and hospital emergency departments.
The decision was made unanimously at the NHS Nottinghamshire County Board meeting yesterday afternoon – despite public petitions and a lack of county council support.
The services offered by the walk-in centres will now be integrated with local primary care services, such as GP surgeries, and the accident and emergency departments of hospitals.
Stapleford walk-in centre, in Church Street, will be integrated with the A&E at the Queen's Medical Centre and Ashfield walk-in centre, in Ashfield Health Village, will be integrated with the A&E at King's Mill Hospital, Sutton-in-Ashfield.
The two walk-in centres were used by 33,000 patients a year, at a cost of �950,000 a year to NHS Nottinghamshire County.
A review was commissioned as it was believed they duplicated services offered by doctors and were not value for money.
The decision to close the walk-in centres was made despite a 3,000-signature petition handed in by Ashfield MP Gloria De Piero.
The closures are not currently supported by Notts County Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
The changes were due to be made from April 1, but no action will be taken until NHS Nottinghamshire County has met the Overview and Scrutiny Committee again on April 4 and they are satisfied the proposals are in the interests of the local health service.
Medical director Doug Black said NHS Nottinghamshire County was working with GP surgeries to make urgent, same-day appointments more easily accessible.
NHS Nottinghamshire County chief executive Andrew Kenworthy said: "As a public body we have to make decisions based on benefit for the greatest number of people.
"We have a limited amount of resources to deal with urgent care and we need to use these resources in the best way."
Mr Kenworthy added that he was satisfied that the out-of-hours GP care provides a high level of service.
It is now expected that 70 per cent of patients who used the walk-in centres will now go to their GP or services such as pharmacies or NHS Direct, and the rest will go to A&E.
Michael Rich, councillor for the Stapleford South East Ward, said he was concerned that patients with serious illnesses may now be missed.
He said: "There may be patients who have serious health problems, or the beginnings of such problems, who will be missed by the system, when they could have been picked up by an easily accessible, professional and convenient walk-in centre."
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