By Saul Cooke-Black and Jack Pitts

STROUD’S Minor Injuries Unit looks all but certain to close at night, despite overwhelming opposition from the community.

NHS bosses want to overhaul Gloucestershire’s seven MIUs in a bid to save costs and bring them in line with Care Quality Commission guidelines.

In a review begun yesterday, county residents have been given three options on how they would like the units to look – with not one that would see Stroud’s MIU remain open overnight.

The first option involves changing all seven MIUs’ opening hours to 8am-8pm, while option two and three would see Stroud MIU close from 11pm to 8am.

County councillor Lesley Williams (Labour, Stonehouse) said she was disappointed by the planned changes.

She said: “It is a really disappointing move.

“It is a vital service and the changes would mean that people would have to go to Gloucester when they may be in need.

“This is not something which should be done for financial reasons. How do do you put a value on somebody needing medical help at a time of great need? It could be a matter of life or death.

“I would urge people to respond and give their views to the review.”

New Care Quality Commission rules mean MIUs cannot open without two qualified nurses on shift. Recruitment problems have meant that between December 2015 and May 2016 the county’s units had to close 142 times – 94 per cent of those were in Cirencester and Stroud.

District councillor Chas Townley (Labour, Uplands) added: “It is really disappointing and the general concern is it is still the thin end of the wedge.”

NHS bosses said MIU use has increased seven per cent over the past year but that, on average, Stroud and Cirencester combined saw only 4.5 patients each night between 11pm and 8am.

At a Gloucestershire County Council health and care committee meeting yesterday, Gloucestershire Care Services CEO Paul Jennings said the review was “not an exercise in saving money” but to “make services safer.”

He added: “In all options we are proposing there will be no overnight services.”

Mike Roberts, medical services director at Gloucestershire Care Services, also a GP, said many patients who used the overnight services should either have gone to A&E or waited until the morning to use the MIU.

“The major challenge is the overnight shift, it’s hard enough getting one member of staff let alone two. One of the reasons for this is because these are extremely well qualified nurses – they don’t want to be sat around all night waiting for a patient, they want to be busy.

“This is about making a safer service, it isn’t about making financial cuts.”

The new rules requiring two nurses on MIUs mean the cheapest option in the review will still cost the NHS an extra £210,000.

Vale Community Hospital in Dursley would not be affected.