Unable to wait until the next full Council meeting to get official backing, one of the Town Councillors, Chris Bartrum has started a petition calling on the Wye Valley Trust to save the Minor Injury Unit (MIU) at Ross Community Hospital.

Cllr Bartrum started the petition at change.org and will be presenting it to the Wye Valley NHS Trust. He told the Ross Gazette that he had to do something to enable people to show their anger at the five month closure of the Minor Injury Unit and also their fear that it may never reopen. He told the Gazette that the MIU closure had also led to fear and speculation that the Community Hospital may be next in the firing line.

The Petition says: “Wye Valley NHS Trust are closing the Minor Injury Unit at Ross Community Hospital for five months from December. This means distress and inconvenience for Ross and the surrounding area, plus extra strain on the Accident and Emergency Unit at the County Hospital in Hereford.

“He added that the solution is to “Keep the Minor Injury Unit open.”

The Wye Valley trust announced the closure of the Minor Injury Units at Ross and Leominster Community Hospitals from Monday, December 3rd until the end of April last week, and the decision met a barrage of protest from local residents.

The Wye Valley NHS Trust says that the reason is so that it can provide safe services to seriously ill patients needing urgent care at Hereford County Hospital. The closure will allow them to redeploy experienced staff at Hereford County Hospital.

Last year the Trust which runs the hospital took the decision to close the Minor Injury Units at the last minute – this year the decision has been made as part of a planned strategy to help the Trust cope with winter pressures.

Jon Barnes, Chief operating officer at the Trust said: “We have a duty to provide safe and efficient care to those who most need it - this decision will help us achieve that.”To view the petition, visit: https://www.change.org/p/wye-valley-nhs-trust-keep-the-minor-injury-unit-at-ross-community-hospital-open?recruiter=369243328&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition&utm_term=psf_combo_share_initial.pacific_abi_select_all_contacts.select_all.pacific_email_copy_en_us_3.control.pacific_email_copy_en_gb_4.v1.pacific_post_sap_share_gmail_abi.control.pacific_email_copy_en_us_5.v1.lightning_2primary_share_options_more.variant&fbclid=IwAR38noXzYnQ_D7omYaZ27v43RHHV0OfBhoEPrwCmqK8awknFYHaSsA8CKkISee this week’s paper for more stories like this, available in shops and as a Digital Edition now.