HEALTH workers are “coming down from the Midlands and staying in hotels” in a bid to keep Somerset’s minor injuries units open.

Somerset has seven such units (MIUs for short) which provide treatment for more than 100,000 patients a year who have a range of emergencies or serious conditions.

Staff shortages across the seven sites have led to a number of temporary closures over the summer, with Burnham-on-Sea, Minehead and Shepton Mallet being particularly affected.

The Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has said it is working hard to recruit and retain staff, and no permanent MIU closures are being planned.

Andy Heron, the CCG’s chief operating officer, gave an update on the problem to Somerset County Council’s adults and health scrutiny committee when it met in Taunton on Wednesday (September 11).

He said: “The staffing situation had started to deteriorate in June.

“We are a net trainer of emergency nurse practitioners (ENPs) and they are in very high demand.

“We have staff coming down from the Midlands and staying in hotels to keep the MIUs open.”

Somerset’s MIUs are divided into two staffing teams: team west (Bridgwater, Burnham-on-Sea, Chard and Minehead) and team east (Frome, Shepton Mallet and West Mendip).

There are staff shortages on both teams, as a result of ENPs being recruited either by GP surgeries or the South Western Ambulance Service.

Since March 2018, ten ENPs have left the two teams, and eight have been recruited in their place.

The shortages, coupled with agency staff not always being available, have meant that not all staff shifts have been covered – resulting in several MIUs being temporarily shut on patient safety grounds.

Between July 1 and August 15, Burnham-on-Sea’s MIU shut on 22 occasions, with Minehead shutting 16 times and Shepton Mallet five times.

Mr Heron said: “The extent to which patients are travelling to the next neighbouring MIU, or seeking care from alternative services, is not yet fully understood and it is currently being investigated.

“Burnham-on-Sea does not offer X-Ray. We need to protect the services in Bridgwater, which is the busiest MIU.”

The CCG’s Fit For My Future programme is currently looking at how healthcare may be provided across Somerset in the decades ahead, to reflect changing demand for services, limited resources and the ageing population.

One of the “emerging proposals” from Fit For My Future is to replace MIUs with urgent treatment centres (UTCs) to reduce visits to hospital A&E departments and provided “more integrated, community-centred health and care services”.

However, this proposal – and others like it – will be subject to a three-month public consultation and further scrutiny before any changes are approved.

Mr Heron added: “We want to get people who have moved out of London or the Midlands, and want to come and join us. That is work which is ongoing.

“We are doing everything we can to rectify the staffing situation.”