Published: Tuesday 10th August 2021 | 9.43am
Cannock Chase Council’s Portfolio Holder for Health and Wellbeing, Councillor Val Jones, and the Leader of the Council, Councillor Olivia Lyons, have jointly written to the Chief Executive of The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust to raise concerns that Cannock Chase Hospital’s Minor Injuries Unit remains closed.
The Trust decided to close the unit temporarily in order to transfer its staff to other critical areas of the hospital in response to COVID-19 pressures.
The councillors recognised the need to close the unit last year at the height of the pandemic but many months on, and with society re-opening, say they are receiving a growing number of complaints from residents about the unit and its services being currently unavailable.
In their letter, Councillor Jones and Councillor Lyons note the excellent reputation of the Minor Injuries Unit and suggest its closure may well be putting further pressure on the accident and emergency department at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton from its residents who would normally go to the unit for help and assistance.
They add that they are not alone in receiving complaints, with many other district councillors being contacted by residents in recent weeks.
Writing to the Trust’s Chief Executive, Professor David Loughton CBE, they say the unit has “served many in our community very well” but say they “are concerned that, as yet there appears to be no announcement of the opening”. They go onto to write that “we would wish to hear from you the timescale you have in mind as regards its reopening”.
Cannock Chase Hospital is adjacent to the Council’s Civic Centre in Cannock. The current hospital building was completed in 1991. It is well used by residents from across Cannock Chase District and also from surrounding villages.
Photograph:
Councillor Val Jones, Portfolio Holder for Health and Wellbeing.