CONSULTATIONS at a walk-in health centre are costing the NHS in Oxfordshire three times more than those at GPs’ surgeries.

NHS officials decided to release the figures following calls from GPs to “come clean” over the finances of the Banbury Health Centre.

A medical committee had estimated the centre, which is open 12 hours a day, seven days a week, was receiving about £140 per consultation, compared with just £26 for traditional GP practices.

But NHS Oxfordshire, the county’s primary care trust, said the actual average figure per consultation at the Banbury clinic was £76.

Dr Prit Buttar, a GP at the Abingdon Surgery and a member of the Oxfordshire Local Medical Committee, said this amount was still three times the cost of a consultation at a standard GP surgery.

He said: ”At a time when the local health service is facing massive cuts, it’s still a very high figure.”

The clinic, in Bridge Street, Banbury, was opened by NHS Oxfordshire last October.

It is run by Principal Medical, a company set up by a group of Oxfordshire GPs in 2004.

The centre is opens until 8pm on weekdays and at weekends, and as well as GP consultations offers dental care and drug and alcohol counselling services.

NHS Oxfordshire said it hoped the consultation cost would fall each year during the life of Principal Medical’s five-year contract, as the number of patients using the centre was expected to increase year-on-year.

A spokesman added: “By year five, we expect the cost per consultation to be comparable to other GP practices.”

All PCTs were told they had to build similar walk-in centres by former Health Minister Lord Darzi.

But the centre was strongly opposed by many of the county’s GPs, who are concerned about the amount it cost to set up and run.

Dr Buttar said: “It’s not that we’re against the idea of a Darzi clinic. I think it could be a very positive thing.

“And if the health service was awash with funds, it would be fantastic.

“But at a time when that’s patently not the case, to be spending public money on this sort of politically-driven programme strikes me as crazy.”

awilliams@oxfordmail.co.uk