Campaigning for more investment at Yate MIU last autumn

Thank you to the staff at the Yate Minor Injuries Unit (MIU) who gave Claire Young and South Glos Lib Dem Health spokesperson Sue Hope a tour of the facility on Tuesday. It gave a real insight into the challenges staff face as they try to meet the ever growing demand.

Originally planned to serve 10,000 patients a year, it now serves nearly double that. Not only is Yate a growing town, but people travel from a much wider area than expected. In part this may be down to the failure of NHS bosses to deliver the promised MIU at Cossham Hospital.

Your Focus Team has been campaigning for extra investment in the service and will keep arguing for additional capacity when the service is re-commissioned.

In the meantime, the staff are keen that people choose the right option to deal with their problem. The MIU can only deal with minor injuries. That means problems like:

• Cuts and grazes
• Sprains and strains
• Arm, lower leg & foot injuries – including broken bones
• Bites – human/animal/insect
• Minor burns and scalds
• Minor head injuries
• Broken nose/nosebleeds
• Minor eye problems such as scratches, foreign bodies in the eyes

They can’t deal with more major injuries, like upper leg, hip and pelvis fractures. It’s also not the right place to go with ailments, whether minor ones like colds or major ones like chest pains.

They are still having to close at times to manage demand – you can check their website for the latest information.

If you’d like to share your experiences with us, we’ll make sure they get fed back to the right people.