Madam, In Ross we are very fortunate to have two excellent GP surgeries with doctors and staff who have been supported in their work by the excellent staff and facilities at the Community Hospital. I have nothing but praise for all these dedicated professionals, but their work is being put in jeopardy by people remote from our needs who are just looking for easy ways to save funding. Without any prior warning the decision was made to take away the 24 hour cover at the Minor Injuries Unit.

On Friday October 12th my daughter had a minor operation carried out at the Ross Hospital by her GP. The decision was made to have this surgery on a Friday so she could recover over the weekend and minimise the need for absence from work. After the procedure the doctor had to go back to his clinic and she was told to return over the weekend to get the wound dressed. When she was about to leave it was realised that as the hospital MIU would then be closed over the weekend it would not be possible to get it dressed and she was told to check if the community nurses could assist, but with more restrictions in place it was not something they could help with. Thus she was advised to wait until Monday, or go to Hereford if the dressing became very soiled. Sadly by Monday, when my daughter arrived at the Community hospital it became clear she had needed it dressed over the weekend. As a result of this lack of facility in Ross her recovery has been much slower than anticipated and recuperation is still on-going and has needed more medical input.

This is a clear case of the patient being penalised by the lack of the MIU, and I know our doctors would be concerned at this lack of care being given to their patients. Indeed this could easily result in increased medical costs when any resulting complications occur. Now our GPs will have to carefully consider the timing of any minor operations and it will put even more pressure on their already busy schedules. My daughter is young and fit and will recover but a more elderly or infirm person could suffer long term issues as a result of the 'black hole' of weekend care that is not available.

The health and welfare of the people of Ross, and the services provided by our two surgeries is now being put in serious jeopardy by the actions of Wye Valley NHS Trust who are looking to save funding in rural areas. The rationale, or more precisely the excuses, that the Trust put forward makes no sense at all – this is just fragmentation of Ross on Wye services and centralisation of everything in Hereford. I would really like to see Peter Wilson, the Medical Director of the Wye Valley NHS Trust who took the decision to shorten the hours of the MIU explain how this "protects the clinical safety of patients" in the Ross area.

G Gill, Ross on Wye

Madam, On the 6th October I had an unfortunate accident and almost sliced off the end of my finger. I managed to get a lift to Ross A&E to be told that the Minor Injuries Unit was (CLOSED) out of hours and that I would have to go to Hereford A&E, much to my dismay. After a few Phone calls I was able to get a lift to Hereford A&E. On arrival I was booked in and seen within 15 minutes, given anesthetic then told to wait for the anesthetic to work. After about two hours they decided to insert the stitches. I was then told on leaving to contact my local Surgery on Monday to have the wound checked and the dressing changed by the Practice nurse. Then to be told she cannot do this and that I would have to contact the District nurse who duly came to my home late on Monday evening.

I was then told to contact the Practice nurse on Friday to have the stitches removed, then referred back to the District nurse for further dressings as required. What a shambles. All because our MIU is now closed out of hours. I beg all residents of Herefordshire to sign a petition and attend any public meetings to get this diabolical decision overturned, or should we in future just dial 999 and tie up another valuable service.

Graham Pye, Ross