Press release – January 2 2018

2018/002

Wye Valley NHS Trust is to extend the temporary closure of its Minor Injury Units to allow it to continue its redeployment of experienced staff in the busy Emergency Department at the County Hospital.

The decision to continue the temporary closure of its Minor Injury Units at Ross-on-Wye and Leominster community hospitals has been made following sustained pressure on services throughout December and over the festive period.

“These seasonal pressures have been experienced by hospitals up and down the country. The demand on services remains high so, in line with our plans to cope with winter pressures, we have taken the decision to extend the temporary closure throughout January to allow us to redeploy experienced emergency nurse practitioners to provide enhanced support where it is clinically most needed,” said Jon Barnes, chief operating officer at the Trust.

“The safety and welfare of patients is the Trust’s priority. We have a duty to ensure we provide safe clinical care for our most vulnerable patients.”

The Trust is advising that there are a number of alternatives local people can use instead of their local MIU. These include seeking advice from their community pharmacy and for urgent medical help that is not life threatening, the public can call NHS 111 – this is also the easiest way to access the GP out-of-hours service.

The decision to temporarily close the MIUs will not affect other activities at the community hospitals – all other services at Ross-on-Wye and Leominster Community Hospitals will continue to operate as usual.

Ends

Note to editors:

Wye Valley NHS Trust is a provider health services across Herefordshire and beyond.

The Trust exists to improve the wellbeing, independence and health of the people we serve. We are the leading provider of health care in Herefordshire.

By working closely with our partners, we can make good our promise to deliver a quality of care we would want for ourselves, our families and our friends.

With an estimated annual turnover of around £180 million, we employ around 2,700 plus staff. We aim to build new relationships between our staff, patients, service users and their carers with the wider community.

For further information please contact the Trust communication team on 01432 372928 or 01432 355444 x5105.