UNCERTAINTY surrounds the future of the minor injuries unit at Dawlish Community Hospital following suggestions it may close for good.

The unit, which only reopened in April last year, is used for minor injuries such as cuts, sprains and scalds.

It had previously been closed for more than four years due to problems finding staff.

Now it has been suggested that health bosses may now shut its doors permanently.

It has been shut about a dozen times so far this year, either due to staff absence or illness.

Chairman of the hospital League of Friends Geoff King, who spearheaded the campaign to reopen the unit last year, understands Torbay and South Devon NHS Trust now believes there is little value in nurse-led units such as the Dawlish MIU and the preference is to doctor-led care.

‘A wider review of minor injury service and urgent treatment centre provision across Devon currently underway,’ confirmed a spokesperson from Devon NHS.

However, the spokesperson added, ‘There are no current proposals to shut Dawlish MIU.’

Currently the MIU is open Monday to Friday on an appointment basis and Mr King says this has worked well.

The appointment system is effectively a triage which means more serious cases are seen first rather than have a group of people arriving as soon as it opens. Walk-in patients can still be seen if they are in need of treatment.

But Mr King believes staffing remains a problem.

He said: ‘We told the trust that there must be enough staff to cover training, sickness and holidays for the unit to be able to run.

‘If it is closed some days, it reduces its reliability as people won’t use it unless they can be sure it will be open.

‘It has not always been reliable and it has been closed about a dozen times since it reopened.

‘If it closes permanently, it will be a disaster for everybody.’

Town, district and county councillor Rosie Dawson believes the unit is in ‘managed decline’.

She said she had been ‘very surprised’ when it reopened last year.

However, the MIU has been popular with patients with minor illnesses and injuries.

In the first five months after it reopened, staff treated 1,300 patients.

At the time, the figures were seen as a vindication of the League of Friends’ concerted campaign to reopen the unit which had been closed for more than four years.

The League had been calling for the unit’s reinstatement for several years saying it was urgently needed to avoid people having to travel to neighbouring emergency departments.

Problems recruiting staff had been blamed for the delay.

Last year, the trust admitted staffing MIUs with the necessary trained nurses was ‘challenging’.

The MIU was originally closed as part of the trust’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic due to staffing levels and demand for services.

Staff were able to treat a range of conditions including: soft tissue injuries, limb injuries, soft tissue infections, wounds such as bites and stings, lacerations requiring sutures, foreign bodies in eyes and ears and minor illnesses such as tonsillitis, ear infections and female urinary tract infections.