Health chiefs are being urged to speed up the reopening of Altrincham Hospital's minor injuries unit (MIU) to a seven-day-a-week service. Treatment of injuries like broken limbs was suspended in November 2021 because of a lack of emergency nurse practitioners (ENPs).
ENPs were diverted to Wythenshawe Hospital at the height of the pandemic and are much sought-after professionals in the NHS. Trafford council's health scrutiny committee has been told by representatives of Manchester Foundation Trust (MFT), which runs the hospital, of 'imminent' plans to reopen the MIU two days a week following a recruitment campaign.
They said that if staff can be retained, it would increase to four days' opening a week from January and revert to seven days in the summer of 2023. However, it is now feared a review into the MIU's continued feasibility, instigated by the newly-formed Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership, may lead to the closure of the entire hospital.
