Minor injuries units closed due to 'winter pressures'
- Published
The minor injuries units were closed in 2017 as a "last-minute decision", the trust said
An NHS trust is closing two minor injuries units for five months to ease winter pressures.
The units in Ross-on-Wye and Leominster, in Herefordshire, will close on 5 December and will not reopen until April next year.
Wye Valley NHS Trust said it will mean up to three of its staff can be redeployed to Hereford County Hospital.
The extra staff will make "a real difference," the trust said.
Over capacity
Only the minor injuries units at the community hospitals will be closed, other services will continue as normal.
A ward with 24 beds is being built at Hereford County Hospital
The trust said it was under increasing pressure at Hereford County Hospital and its priority was to care for "seriously sick patients needing urgent care".
The County Hospital's emergency department is over capacity, with more than 200 people attending on some days, despite only being designed to cope with around 125 patients a day.
"We have a duty to provide safe and efficient care to those who most need it," the trust's chief operating officer Jon Barnes said.
"This decision will help us achieve that."
A new ward at the County Hospital is to open with 24 beds. The ward is still being built, however the trust said it will be open for patients "before Christmas".
During the closures, the trust advised that the nearest minor injuries unit would be Malvern in Worcestershire.
- Published1 April 2015
