CONCERNS have been raised over the future of Yate’s Minor Injury Unit (MIU) after government Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said it had failed to take pressure off emergency departments.


Mr Hunt made the comment about the MIU at the Yate West Gate Centre when agreeing with a decision that a minor injury unit should not be set up at Cossham Hospital.


He said: “Both the National Review of Urgent and Emergency Care Services and the local experience of Yate MIU have identified that earlier initiatives to alleviate the pressure on A&E services have not succeeded in reducing demand as hoped.


“A new approach is therefore needed and the South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is right to consider alternatives.”


Yate residents and councillors fear this could mean the local MIU is closed, but the CCG said there are no immediate plans to do so.


Cllr Chris Willmore, who represents Yate North, said: “I am shocked that one of the first acts of the Conservative Secretary of State for Health is to throw into doubt the future of our MIU.


“We need to work to make it clear that the MIU is crucial. I am livid, as they are making generalised statements about the MIU.”


Cllr Sue Hope, who represents Cotswold Edge, saidadded: “We’ve been clear all along that we want to see an expansion of medical services at Yate, not a cutback.


"We will fight to protect the Yate MIU, which saves people from making a journey into the city for urgent medical treatments.”


Former MP for Thornbury and Yate Steve Webb, who campaigned for more local health facilities in Yate, said: “When the decision was taken to close Frenchay we were promised that at the very least there would be a big improvement in community facilities, and the MIU was a key part of that.


“With the population of Yate and Chipping Sodbury set to rise substantially over the coming years it would be an outrage if health managers were now to backtrack and reduce or remove the MIU service in Yate.”


The MIU opened as a drop-in centre in June 2010 and is run by the not-for-profit company Sirona Care and Health.


A spokesman for the CCG, which commission Sirona to run the Yate unit, said: “We are working to provide the best possible urgent care services for local people within available resources, providing treatment for minor injuries and illnesses in the community close to people’s homes without the need for a trip to A&E.


“The minor injuries unit at Yate is an important part of our overall urgent care provision and we currently have no plans for significant changes to the services it provides.”