Wells MP James Heappey met with senior management at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust on Friday to discuss Burnham Memorial Hospital, as well as wider issues affecting the NHS in the county.
Mr Heappey met Phil Brice, Director of Governance and Corporate Development, and Deirdre Molloy, MIU and Integration Service Manager to discuss last week’s temporary closure of the Minor Injuries Unit.
Last year, there were a number of temporary closures which caused concern in the community. However, following a productive conversation regarding a host of issues including community hospitals, MIU and accessibility to larger hospitals in Somerset, Mr Heappey was pleased to hear the situation has improved since 2019.
He said: “I was – of course – concerned about there being a repeat of 2019, but the trust and the CCG have worked incredibly hard to ensure recruitment in Somerset is at a sustainable level.
“While there are of course still challenges, I feel reassured that those in Burnham-on-Sea can feel their MIU will remain open for them.
“I also really wanted to hear about the challenges more widely for Somerset and the fact that the Wells constituents have a choice to make between using RUH, BRI or Weston.
“I will be keeping engaged with Somerset NHS Foundation Trust and the CCG as the backlog of treatments is dealt with, as a result of the pandemic.
“I want to thank everyone working to achieve this in Somerset as I know what a challenging couple of years it has been, and I know my constituents and I are extremely grateful for all their hard work.”
