Hold-up on bid to save minor injuries unit

GPs have offered to take over the service at Cannock Hospital from September 1, taking it in turns to provide afternoon appointments whilst organising an out-of-hours provider for evenings and weekends.

But county health bosses have deferred a decision and say they want to see more details on the proposed move. A workshop with GPs in the cash-strapped Cannock Chase Clinical Commissioning Group is to be set up.

CCG boss Andrew Donald warned they may lose out financially if a decision is delayed for too long. He has asked for a one-month consultation instead of the proposed three-month dialogue.

The plan would produce an annual saving of almost £500,000 after an outlay of around £350,000 including the cost of using X-ray machine facilities at Wolverhampton.

The redesigned service would be called the Minor Illnesses Unit, better reflecting its use. Of the 16,000 people a year that use the MIU, only 4,000 have injuries while the vast majority have minor illnesses.

The new service would particularly benefit the elderly and long-term ill who generally need more time for an appointment.

Under the plan, GPs would continue with their morning surgeries as normal and then go on a rota for the MIU service, the Healthy Staffordshire select committee heard yesterday.

Mr Donald said: "We think this is an opportunity to get a service in place that is actually fit for purpose."

Some committee members agreed, Councillor Robert Marshall called the plan 'innovative'.

But Cannock member Christine Mitchell warned against rushing into a decision and attacked the proposal for being too vague.

She also demanded to know why it had not been put before the committee from the start, as an alternative to closure.

She said: "We've raised hundreds of signatures on a petition against the closure. Why on earth wasn't this looked at previously?

"As it stands, the report is too wishy-washy. There's not enough detail for us to discuss it properly."

Fellow Cannock councillor Kath Perry, committee chairwoman, called the report 'woolly' and asked why GPs could not simply keep their own surgeries open in the afternoon.

Mr Donald said that almost 80 per cent of Cannock GPs were due to retire in the next five to 10 years and that a 'new breed' of GPs was coming along who will 'need to work differently'.

The suggestion for a partial MIU service had not been raised before because it came from the GPs, not from him.

Mr Donald said: "GPs have woken up to the fact we've got a significant financial challenge to face."