Ely’s Minor Injuries Unit is one step closer to becoming a Local Urgent Care Hub, after getting the green light from the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group.
Yesterday afternoon the CCG’s governing body endorsed the business case for the first phase of the project, which has been approved by its clinical executive committee.
Campaigner Emma Watson told Spotted in Ely: “I’m very pleased that the CCG confirm approval has now been granted to proceed with the pilot phase of the development of a Local Urgent Care Service hub at the Princess of Wales from this spring.
“I’m waiting to hear further details as to the changes we’ll see on the ground, and how soon we’ll see them.”
Southeast Cambridgeshire MP Lucy Frazer also welcomed the news, saying she would continue to be “actively engaged” in the process as the project evolves.
She paid tribute to Ely residents for preventing the imminent closure of the city’s MIU, giving a special mention to Ms Watson, former mayor Lis Every and county councillor Anna Bailey, as well as those who signed petitions and took part in Spotted in Ely’s #MIUselfies video campaign.
On January 30, Spotted in Ely broke the news that people power had paid off, with plans to pilot urgent care hubs in Ely, Wisbech and Doddington this spring.
Long-term aims include integrating “currently fragmented” services into the hubs, standardising opening times and increasing and strengthening links with Accident & Emergency services, ambulatory care (where patients receive hospital treatment without needing to be admitted), and other acute specialities such as orthopaedics.
Other future aims include supporting GPs to offer “a wide variety of services for their patients”, making the “most efficient use of resources” and developing “local but cost effective solutions for the rural geography”.
The CCG said it hoped to “widen the scope of patients who can be dealt with as a one-stop service and offer an alternative for patients who might otherwise opt for A&E due to difficulties accessing general practise.”
The new model has been developed together with primary care providers, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, the community and mental health services, the CCG said, adding that public pressure had helped health bosses make their decision to turn MIUs into urgent care hubs.
Since Northeast Cambridgeshire MP Steve Barclay first leaked news to the media about secret plans to close the three MIUs in the East Cambridgeshire and Fenland area, Spotted in Ely has run a campaign to #saveourminorinjuriesunit.
