THERE has been outcry in Bude and Stratton, following the announcement that there will be a temporary overnight closure of Stratton Hospital Minor Injury Unit.
From last Friday, the Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has reduced the opening hours of the minor injuries unit at Stratton.
The unit will now open from 8am to 10pm daily.
A spokesperson for the trust said: “We have reviewed attendance rates after 10pm and are confident that this change will have a minimal impact as use of the unit after this time is very small.”
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The trust said the decision was made ‘in order to ensure staff are able to work safely and can continue to provide a high quality minor injury service to local people’.
They said in a statement: “The temporary reduction in hours ensures we are not asking our qualified and unqualified staff to work unduly long hours or shifts which would impact both, on their clinical decision making and their health and wellbeing.
“There is a high demand for qualified nurses and this is impacting on our ability to provide an overnight minor injury service from the hospital in Stratton. We are actively recruiting nurses and working with recruitment agencies in order to fill our vacancies.
“We are working with both GP practices, the League of Friends, NHS Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group, the South West Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust and other local organisations to explore how we could provide a broader range of support for local people.
“We would like to apologise for any disruption, but it is essential we act to ensure the quality and safety of our services and staff.”
However, the news has been met with disappointment by the mayor of Bude and Stratton, Cornwall Councillors and members of the community.
Bob Willingham, mayor, said: “I’m disgusted. As far as community is concerned we’ve only got to have a child turning up at the point of dying, as has happened recently. How do you put a price on a life because you can’t find money for staffing? It’s awful and it’s obviously stirred up a hornet’s nest.
“It’s a thin edge of the wedge. This is where you can trim off a bit of money, then let’s trim off a bit more. With our ageing population in Bude we need to go the other way, we need to increase the services we can give. You only need one of those people to die and it’s terrible.”
Cllr Willingham has encouraged anyone concerned about the latest developments, to write or email Phil Confue, the NHS Partnership Trust chief executive.
“If we just lie down and let them cut everything, we’ll lose everything. We’ve got to fight to keep the services at Stratton. It’s a great service.”
The Cornwall Councillors for Bude, David Parsons and Peter La Broy, along with the Cornwall Councillor for Poundstock, Nicky Chopak, responded to the news in a joint statement, which said: “We are extremely angered and disappointed at the closure of Stratton Minor Injuries Unit overnight. Having had no consultation or adequate notice we are urgently raising our community concerns and are demanding answers from Cornwall Partnership Foundation Trust (CPFT) and the NHS Commissioning Group.
“We have received a statement from CPFT, who are responsible for running Stratton MIU. In a recent study, Stratton was identified as a priority for an Urgent Care centre because of the rising population and the travel distance to any other facility from all of the surrounding parishes. There is clear evidence of need. We therefore find this decision astonishing.
“The trust was aware there was a staffing problem more than three weeks ago and had ample opportunity to engage with the community — why was this not done? Cases have been given to us as examples of why the service is not safe. To us they illustrate that if a patient is in distress, they would be much safer and reassured in Stratton, rather than being at home, waiting for an ambulance or attempting the journey in their own transport on the Atlantic Highway to Barnstaple. On December 6, in the late evening that road was blocked for several hours due to an accident. We are not convinced that removing a service and leaving residents to cope on their own can in any way be safer. The lack of consultation with the residents is disrespectful. ‘Shaping our Future’ has been holding workshops for two years to discuss NHS place-based services — we wonder why those conclusions have been ignored.
“We do not believe issues around staff recruitment, training and retention should be driving long-term changes to the service. The priorities should be our rural isolation and how to ensure patient safety. We are already working with all stakeholders to reverse this decision.”
Cllr Parsons also gave an update to members of the town council at last Thursday’s meeting.
Reading a statement from the hospital, he said: “Since 2016 the MIU has been open 24/7 due to geographical isolation. Attendances at night have been low and the team raised that with their bosses.”
Cllr Parsons continued: “At the last meeting Phil Confue was at, we were told that no facilities would be changed or reduced but then a week later it was reduced. In this case I don’t think it’s funding, there is a genuine lack of nurses in Cornwall. The EU nurses — like the Polish and the Spanish — they’re going home. There is a shortage of nurses but if they came to us and said this is the situation then it may be different.
“If the staff don’t have the skills then train them, if you haven’t got enough staff, then get staff. We’ve kicked up murder for the last two days and we’ll continue to kick. We’ve spoken to the leader of the council and other important people. We’ll make a fuss but it’ll help if you make a fuss.
“But at the end of the day they have to train them and go out and recruit and pay them what you need to, at the moment they offer poor pay. Some of them are exhausted, doing double shifts.”
Mayor Bob Willingham said: “When I phoned around, some asked the question, what are the rules on it?”
Cllr Parsons replied: “It comes down to management issues, they need to look as to why they can’t get staff. Safety is not a rational argument. A few years ago I had a kidney stone. I was in agony and they couldn’t do anything but we need a safe place, which is the MIU, who can tell them (the ambulance) to get here. They’ve got more clout than a bloke who’s ill. I’m really cross about it, we found out about it through Facebook and it should never happen like that, we’re not pleased about it!”
Cllr Tony Gibbs said: “I agree with everything you’ve just said. Their justification makes no sense at all. If they’re planning to re-open it in February I’d like to see a plan and some evidence, that’s the minimum they can do. It’s incredibly disrespectful to the local community!”
Cllr Parsons replied: “Disrespectful is exactly the right word, it’s downright rude!”
Cllr La Broy added: “I want to assure you that within four minutes of seeing Bob’s Facebook post, us three (Cornwall Councillors) were acting. The analogy I would use is with Bude fire station. Would you close it if there wasn’t a fire for six months? Of course you wouldn’t, you need it it just in case. And what makes it even worse is that there was no consultation process.”
Also responding to the news. North Cornwall MP, Scott Mann (Cons), said: “I was recently contacted by Cornwall NHS Foundation Trust who informed me that they had made the hard decision to temporarily implement night closures of the Minor Injuries Unit at Stratton Hospital.
“They have informed me that this decision is mainly due to attendance rates being low after 10pm. I have, however, been assured that inpatient beds to support local people on discharge and outpatient clinics will not be affected.
“Concerns have also been raised by constituents over distance to other NHS services and staffing levels at Stratton Hospital. I have spoken with the mayor of Bude-Stratton about key worker housing and how we can make the challenges around staffing easier.
“In my capacity as Member of Parliament for North Cornwall I will continue to liaise with the community, local groups and the NHS to explore how changes to services can be managed, and how a broader range of services can be provided.”
A spokesman for the Stratton Hospital League of Friends said: “The League of Friends at Stratton Hospital has been advised of what we understand to be a temporary change to the opening times of the Minor Injuries Unit and will be monitoring the impact carefully.”