THE decision to temporarily close Minor Injuries Units (MIUs) countywide to allow nurses to support overstretched A&E departments has been branded a 'disgrace' by a community hospital campaigner.

Frances Smith, chairman of the Friends of Evesham Community Hospital, said she was 'really disappointed' by the decision to close MIUs across the county.

The radical step was taken for the first time so staff could support emergency departments in Worcester and Redditch.

As previously reported MIUs were closed in Malvern, Tenbury, Evesham and Bromsgrove for three days so staff could be redeployed to support struggling A&Es at Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester and the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.

In total 10 nurses employed by the Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust at MIUs provided support to the A&Es which are managed by the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

The MIUs (apart from Kidderminster) were closed on New Year's Eve, New Year's Day and January 2 before they reopened on January 3.

The decision to close them was taken at 4pm on New Year's Eve by clinicians and NHS leaders with staff from the MIUs supporting those requiring 'minor injury care' at A&E.

So far the trust has not provided figures showing how many patients attended A&E over the three days

or information about the impact of the high volume of patients on emergency waiting times.

An acute trust spokesman said 'provisional' figures had yet to be ratified by the acute trust board.

Harriett Baldwin, MP for West Worcestershire, is now concerned that the temporary closure of the MIUs will set a precedent which will be repeated in the future.

Mrs Smith, chairman of the Friends of Evesham Community Hospital, said: "While I understand the horrendous pressure they're under at the acute trust, I don't think this is the way to solve it. This is not the way to get the public to use the minor injuries unit. To do this to the public is disgraceful."

She attacked the decision as 'short-sighted' and said the public had not been informed.

Mrs Smith added: "We have fought long and hard for Evesham hospital over many, many years. I'm waiting for an assurance this is not the thin end of the wedge. I hope they're not going to go down this route again."

West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin has urged people to make more use of their local community hospital and GPs but supported the decision to close the MIUs. However, she warned that this is a difficult step to repeat if the situation re-occurs.

Mrs Baldwin said: “The most important message to communicate is that you should only go to Accident and Emergency if you have a serious problem.

"Local community hospitals are able deal will all sorts of non-urgent conditions and if you aren’t sure you can speak to your own GP or ring 111.

“Rural communities depend on their local community hospital and they need to play an increasing role helping to take the pressure off Worcestershire Royal.

“Community hospitals are often more convenient to use and their minor injuries units usually have much shorter waiting times to get seen. We need to make more, not less, use of our precious community hospitals and I would not like to see this decision set a precedent for the future.”

Mari Gay, interim chief operating officer on behalf of the three Worcestershire CCGs said: “The decision to close Minor Injury Units over the weekend was taken and supported by all NHS health leaders across Worcestershire.

"This shows the local NHS at its best working together and deploying staff where they can help provide the best care.

“These were exceptional circumstances and we took the action that was necessary and appropriate to help ensure we could continue providing safe emergency care in our A&E departments.”