Victoria Infirmary minor injuries unit to keep shorter hours

Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the site along with Leighton Hospital and Elmhurst in Winsford, cut the unit’s opening hours on March 20 to help support the trust’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The trust says that while it is now seeing low levels of patients who have tested positive at its sites, Covid-19 continues to ‘dramatically change the way we care for patients’.

As a result, the opening times at the minor injuries unit will remain as 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday for another eight months.

Mid Cheshire Hospitals says this is to support its planning for the safe return of services which have had to be reduced or suspended so far in the pandemic.

James Sumner, chief executive at Mid Cheshire Hospitals, said: “This decision has been made as part of a phased restoration of our services, which is being planned and delivered to best meet the needs of all our patients, while making sure that we have the staff and facilities to be able to respond to any potential future developments in the coronavirus outbreak – particularly over the winter period.

“We appreciate that current arrangements may cause an inconvenience for local patients and are grateful for the continued understanding of the community as we work to reinstate more of our services across the patch.”

Northwich patients who need help with minor injuries outside those hours are advised to visit Leighton Hospital’s urgent treatment centre or to contact NHS 111 for advice.

Mid Cheshire Hospitals had committed to making investments in Victoria Infirmary before the pandemic, as the minor injuries unit had been getting much busier.

Mr Sumner told board members in March that while the unit was seeing ‘about 40 people a day only a few years ago’, this had increased to ‘about 80 people through the door’ on some days.

That increase in demand led to Mid Cheshire Hospitals recruiting an additional emergency nurse practitioner to help Victoria Infirmary meet rising demand.

The trust also said it would be investing in the hospital's leadership to help it improve after being graded as 'requiring improvement' by the Care Quality Commission last November.

It came as staff told inspectors they 'did not feel valued' by leadership, although the trust itself scored a 'good' rating overall.

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Meanwhile, Mid Cheshire Hospitals is increasing the hours for its GP out of hours service, after they were also cut earlier in the pandemic.

The service is open at Victoria Infirmary from 6.30pm to 10pm, Monday to Friday, and from 9am to 6pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

A virtual phone triage, appointments and home visits service is also available from 6pm to 10pm on Saturdays and Sundays.