THE Minor injuries unit at Tenbury Hospital was closed on New Year’s Day to help to cope with an Accident and Emergency overload in Worcester.

And there was a further closure between Sunday at 3pm and Monday at 9am, due to 'staffing issues'.

On New Year's Day, a decision was made to move staff from local community hospitals, including Tenbury, to Worcester as the Accident and Emergency service faced a heavy workload.

Now Tenbury MP Harriett Baldwin says that while she understands why the decision was made, she is concerned that it should not be seen as setting a precedent for the future.

The MP for West Worcestershire, which includes Tenbury, is also concerned that it left people who went to the Minor Injuries Unit in Tenbury on New Year’s Day without the help that they would have been expecting.

Harriett Baldwin is also concerned that at a time when people are being encouraged to use local services instead of going to Accident and Emergency it is important that the local NHS services are available.

The closure of the Minor Injuries Unit came at the same time that health chiefs have announced a consultation into the future of community hospitals and a proposal to cut the number of beds.

Despite the closure on New Year’s Day, Harriett Baldwin wants people to make more use of local community hospitals.

“The most important message to communicate is that you should only go to Accident and Emergency if you have a serious problem,” said Harriett Baldwin.

“Local community hospitals are able to deal will all sorts of non-urgent conditions and, if you aren’t sure, you can speak to your own GP or ring 111.

“Rural communities depend on their local community hospital and they need to play an increasing role, helping to take the pressure off Worcestershire Royal.

“Community hospitals are often more convenient to use and their minor injuries units usually have much shorter waiting times to get seen.

"We need to make more, not less, use of our precious community hospitals and I would not like to see this decision set a precedent for the future.”

Tenbury Hospital is operated by the Worcestershire Health and Care Trust while the Accident and Emergency Unit in Worcester is run by the Acute Trust.

However, the two trusts work together and the decision to move staff on January 1 from Tenbury to Worcester is believed to have followed a request for help.

The Minor Injuries Unit at Tenbury Hospital has already been cut back and it’s now open for 12 hours a day instead of 24 hours.

Several years ago, Tenbury Hospital lost its operating theatre which was used for minor procedures. At the time, it was said that the closure was temporary but the theatre has never reopened.