As reported in today's Western Daily Press - click to read online
A furious West MP has labelled the closure of a minor injuries unit in his constituency because of staff shortages as "totally unacceptable", and is demanding to know why.
Health chiefs said they have a staffing shortage of emergency nurses at minor injuries units across Somerset, and because so few people visit the MIU at Minehead hospital, bosses have taken the decision it should be the one to close until more staff can be recruited by August.
MP Ian Liddell-Grainger said he feared the temporary closure would "become permanent", and has written to health bosses demanding to know why the staff shortages have been "allowed" to develop.
NHS chiefs said they were embarking on a recruitment drive to hire more nurses to work in MIUs, and there were shortages in Bridgwater and Frome as well as Minehead.
"This temporary measure was necessary in order to enable the Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to re-deploy its Emergency Nurse Practitioners (the highly trained staff who deliver care within the MIUs), thereby maintaining service quality and better managing the rising daytime demand it has been experiencing in MIUs in Bridgwater and Frome," said a spokesman.
"An evaluation of overnight usage of Minehead Hospital's Minor Injury Unit indicated an average of just one patient overnight was being seen during the winter months and two patients each night throughout the summer."
The MP said it will leave ambulances and patients getting themselves to hospital facing a long journey.
"They will be lucky to get there in 45 minutes," he said.
As reported in today's Western Daily Press - click to read online