Burnham-on-Sea Minor Injuries Unit trialling location change
It's due to staff shortages, with the aim of improving services
Somerset’s last minor injuries unit will be changing location on a trial basis in a bid to combat staff shortages.
A minor injuries unit (MIU) is designed to assess, diagnose and treat a range of “non-life-threatening conditions” – such as broken bones, chest and throat infections, minor head injuries, eye injuries and urinary infections.
Somerset originally had seven MIUs, but six of them – at Bridgwater, Chard, Frome, Glastonbury, Minehead and Shepton Mallet – were recently converted into urgent treatment centres (UTCs), which stay open longer and can offer X-rays as standard.
The last remaining MIU, in Burnham-on-Sea, has struggled to provide a consistent service to patients, with the facility having to close at short notice because it does not have enough staff to be run safely.
The NHS Somerset integrated care board (ICB) has announced the MIU will be relocated to a different location in a bid to fix this problem and provide a more integrated healthcare service to local residents.
The MIU is currently located at Burnham-on-Sea War Memorial Hospital, located on the B3140 Love Lane near the Dunstan House Inn.
The MIU is operated by the Somerset NHS Foundation Trust and is currently open between 10am and 6pm seven days a week.
It's experienced “frequent, short notice and unplanned closures” due to staff shortages for several years, with health bosses stepping in back in October 2022 and changing the opening hours of all Somerset’s MIUs to “provide greater consistency in services for local people and communities”.
These changes initially bore fruit, with Burnham’s MIU returning to its original opening hours in December 2023 after a successful recruitment drive.
However, NHS Somerset chief executive Jonathan Higman has revealed these issues had resurfaced, meaning more drastic action would be needed.
In a report published before an ICB meeting in Minehead, he said: “Over the past few months, the MIU in Burnham-on -Sea has once again experienced a number of short notice closures due to workforce shortages, which has led to inconsistencies in the service provided to local communities.
“In addition, there are no X-ray facilities in the building and the current location of the MIU within the outpatient’s area of the community hospital is restrictive, with one main consultant room, only allowing for one patient to be seen at a time.
“Staff have also raised concerns about access to additional clinical support in emergencies and a poor working environment.”
NHS Somerset has been working closely with Symphony Healthcare (which runs both Burnham and Berrow Medical Centre and Highbridge Medical Centre) to find a solution that will “improve the safety and reliability of the health service for the population of Burnham and Highbridge”.
To this end, the MIU services will shortly be relocated to Burnham and Berrow Medical Centre, on the opposite side of Love Lane.
The service will have the same opening hours as the current location, can be accessed through the same usual means, and will not be restricted to patients regarded at this particular GP practice.
Mr Higman explained: “The new location will provide increased capacity with two clinical consultation rooms.
“In addition, the emergency practitioner will be supported by a registered nurse, who will be able to provide additional clinical support and dressings.
“The relocation will also offer greater support for the clinical team running the service by working closely with primary care colleagues, with access to GPs and other clinical staff in the event of an emergency.”
The new service is expected to launch by the late-spring, with the trial lasting for between six and 12 months before any final decision on the future of the MIU service is taken.