Malvern hospital overlooked for minor injuries care (From Malvern Gazette)

Malvern hospital overlooked for minor injuries care

11:43am Wednesday 18th July 2007 in News By Robert Hale

A VETERAN supporter of Malvern hospital is dismayed it is being sidelined in a new campaign to promote minor injuries clinics.

The local health authority has been putting out leaflets urging people to visit minor injuries units (MIU) instead of the accident and emergency unit at larger hospitals.

But the leaflet says the nearest MIU is at Kidderminster, over 24 miles from Malvern, and it does not even mention Malvern Community Hospital.

Pat Merrick, who has led the fight for a new Malvern hospital for decades, is outraged by the omission.

She said: "It would be very easy to provide a minor injuries unit at Malvern Community Hospital and I'm disgusted that they aren't doing it. It's absolutely typical."

She said the matron at the Lansdowne Crescent hospital is qualified to operate such a unit and there is even a room that can be used, which was furnished some years ago with a grant from MHDC's Malvern Millions.

The other hospitals with MIU listed on the leaflet are Evesham (22.9 miles from Malvern), Bromsgrove (23.5 miles) and Tenbury (30.5 miles).

Paul Bates, chief executive of Worcestershire Primary Care Trust, said: "Malvern Community Hospital does not have a Minor Injuries Unit at present.

"We are in the process of planning for a new hospital in Malvern and as part of that planning,we are considering whether a MIU service can be provided in Malvern. We will not know the final outcome until we are clear on the costs for a new hospital and what level of services we can afford to provide from it."

However, he said nothing about providing an MIU in the existing hospital.

A PCT meeting was held on the possibility of a new hospital in Malvern on Wednesday. It doesn't look like a new facility will be built until at least 2010.