Hospital extends hours of minor injury unit

The extended hours started on Friday and will run through to Sunday night

A hospital's minor injury unit has temporarily extended its opening times by two hours to ease pressure on A&E departments.

From Friday to Sunday the minor injury unit at the Princess of Wales Hospital, Ely, Cambridgeshire, will now be open from between 08:30 and 20:00 GMT.

Patients with injuries, minor illnesses and urine infections can use the unit instead of local A&E departments, the unit said.

Holly Sutherland, the chief operating officer at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, said extending hours was "the right thing to do".

She added: "Our dedicated staff can help with all kinds of injuries and illnesses and provide care to patients, so they don't have to make an unnecessarily trip to their an A&E department.

"We will continue to work with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care System and all of our partners in the local health system to provide any support that we can."