Pennine GP Alliance’s winter hubs will reopen across Calderdale from Monday 28 September, providing additional same-day care for local people and families while supporting GP practices and the wider NHS through the winter months.
Two established services – the Same Day Children’s Hubs and Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) Hubs – will once again operate across Calderdale from September 2026, providing additional capacity through the winter and into spring 2027. The ARI Hubs will run until the end of April 2027, while the Same Day Children’s Hubs will continue until the end of May 2027.
The hubs are part of Pennine GP Alliance’s ongoing commitment to working with GP practices and local health and care partners to provide accessible, neighbourhood-based care and ensure people receive timely care close to home.
Extra support for GP practices and local families
The five Same Day Children’s Hubs, with one serving each of Calderdale’s five Primary Care Networks, provide additional capacity for children aged 17 and under who need to be assessed for a new illness or acute symptoms but do not require hospital treatment.
Children may be referred to a hub by their GP practice for conditions including coughs, sore throats and earache, mild rashes or eczema flare-ups, mild/moderate abdominal pain, vomiting or diarrhoea; not requiring urgent assessment, mild asthma exacerbations, urinary tract infections and general unwellness.
The service was first introduced last winter and provided around 8,600 appointments for children between December 2025 and April 2026, giving parents and carers access to experienced clinicians in a calm, primary care setting.
The hubs also work closely with Calderdale Royal Hospital, with the Emergency Department (A&E) able to refer appropriate children directly into the Same Day Children’s Hubs.
Alongside the children’s service, PGPA’s Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) Hubs will provide additional capacity for people presenting with acute respiratory symptoms during the winter months.
The ARI Hubs have been running within each PCN in Calderdale since 2023 and provide same-day assessment and treatment for people with acute respiratory infections, helping GP practices manage increased demand during the winter period.
Last winter, almost 13,000 appointments were made available through the ARI Hubs, with over 97% of appointments being used and more than 10,600 potential A&E attendances avoided.
The ARI Hubs also work closely with Calderdale Royal Hospital’s Emergency Department, which can refer appropriate patients directly into the service where they would benefit from assessment and treatment in a primary care setting.
Earlier this year, Pennine GP Alliance successfully secured a three-year contract from NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) to continue delivering both services on behalf of GP practices across Calderdale. By bringing together evidence, data and learning from practices and patients across the whole of Calderdale, PGPA was able to demonstrate the value of a coordinated, system-wide approach to winter care and secure funding for services that would not otherwise have been available to individual practices. The three-year commitment recognises the importance of the hubs in providing timely care closer to home, supporting GP practices to manage winter demand and helping to relieve avoidable pressure on emergency departments.
Listening to patients and learning from their experiences
Listening to the people who use our services is an important part of how PGPA develops and improves them.
The ARI Hubs routinely collect feedback from patients following their appointments, and what people tell us has helped shape how the service has developed over the years and continues to evolve.
As part of preparing for this winter, Pennine GP Alliance also brought together a patient focus group of eight people who had previously accessed the ARI Hubs, giving them the opportunity to share their experiences in more depth and talk directly with the team about what worked well and where there could be opportunities to improve.
The group told us how much they valued being able to access a same-day appointment, having enough time with a clinician, and feeling listened to and supported during their consultation.
This combination of ongoing patient feedback and more in-depth engagement helps PGPA understand what matters to people using the service and ensures their experiences are considered alongside clinical and operational learning as the hubs continue to develop.
Using technology to support better decisions
Both the ARI Hubs and Same Day Children’s Hubs use Point of Care Testing (POCT) to support clinical decision-making for people presenting with respiratory symptoms.
The quick finger-prick blood test can help clinicians assess whether an infection is more likely to be viral or bacterial, supporting appropriate treatment decisions and helping to reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescribing.
During the most recent winter, antibiotic prescribing through the ARI Hub pathway fell from 54% to 34%, while POCT influenced clinical decision-making in almost half of consultations where it was used. Patient feedback was also extremely positive, with 96% of respondents saying they would recommend the service.
This builds on work that began as an innovation in 2023 and is now becoming an increasingly important part of Calderdale’s approach to managing winter respiratory illness.
Working together to support Calderdale through winter
The return of both services reflects the importance of organisations across Calderdale working together to respond to winter pressures and make the best use of NHS resources.
Dr Asif Yaseen, Medical Director at Pennine GP Alliance, said:
“For GP practices, winter brings a very predictable increase in demand, particularly when respiratory infections are circulating and children are becoming unwell. Having the hubs available gives practices some additional flexibility and means we can offer patients a prompt clinical assessment when their usual practice is under pressure.
“From a primary care perspective, it is really important that these are not simply additional appointments, but services that people have a good experience of using. We heard that very clearly when, to help shape our winter services, we brought together eight patients over the summer who had previously used our ARI Hubs. They told us how much they valued being seen quickly, having time to talk to a clinician and, importantly, feeling listened to.
“That feedback matters. As clinicians, we need to keep asking ourselves not just whether a service is working, but whether it is working well for the people who use it. We’ll be taking what we heard from patients into this winter’s delivery.
“The hubs also give primary care an opportunity to work differently with our colleagues in hospital. If someone can be assessed and treated safely in the community, that is often a better experience for them and their family. And where someone does need hospital care, we have those relationships and referral routes in place. That kind of connection between services is particularly valuable when winter pressures start to build.”
The Same Day Children’s Hubs and ARI Hubs will operate from Monday 28 September 2026 until April 2027 and May 2027
Appointments are accessed through local GP practices, with Calderdale Royal Hospital’s Emergency Department also able to refer appropriate patients into both the Same Day Children’s Hubs and ARI Hubs.
People experiencing a life-threatening emergency should always call 999 or attend A&E.