The move is part of a national directive from NHS England to introduce more UTCs across the country and standardise where people access care.

Dr Julian Coffey, head of the urgent treatment centre service at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: ‘The benefit for patients going forward is they will be able to book a planned appointment to be seen at Berwick and Alnwick urgent treatment centres via NHS 111. This means that our patients can attend a pre-arranged appointment which is more convenient and will mean people don't have to wait very long to be seen. A walk-in service will still be available.

‘While our urgent treatment centres are GP and nurse practitioner led services, technology enables our teams to connect quickly with other specialists when needed. We are constantly looking at ways to improve patient care and the new hospital in Berwick will certainly create a much improved environment to people to access care and for our staff.'

The MIUs in Berwick and Alnwick already offer services similar to other UTCs in North Tyneside and Northumberland, and treat patients with minor injuries, illnesses and infections. There are radiology services (x-rays) located on both sites.