Minor injuries unit returns to Solihull

Minor injuries unit set for return to Solihull Hospital

Tom Cramp - Local Democracy Reporter | Tuesday 11th October 2022 10:47am

The minor injuries unit at Solihull Hospital is finally set to return, a new report indicates. The hospital has been without the unit since May 2020 after all non-surgical work was transferred elsewhere during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The report says the preferred option of health chiefs is to re-provide a minor injuries unit (MIU) and an urgent treatment centre (UTC) at Solihull Hospital. It adds that the strength of feeling regarding urgent care services in the borough is 'fully recognised'.

Voices calling for the return of the MIU have been growing louder for some months now. Solihull Hospital was designated a Covid-free centre in 2020 so that time-critical operations could be performed there while other hospitals dealt with Covid-19 patients.

The report from University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) gives Solihull Council an update on the recovery of hospital services across Birmingham and Solihull post-Covid-19. Councillors will meet on Thursday evening (October 13) to discuss the report in more detail. 

Regarding the MIU and UTC, the report says: “The strength of feeling in Solihull regarding the urgent care services that are currently available to its residents is fully recognised; there is a commitment to providing a service that better meets local people's needs. 

“UHB, NHS Birmingham, and Solihull Integrated Care Board (ICB) have worked through several potential options for an MIU and UTC service, as part of a thorough options appraisal, which has been now considered through UHB's internal processes. The current preferred option, of UHB and the ICB, is to re-provide an MIU and UTC on the Solihull Hospital site, in line with the national service specification.”

Cllr Mark Parker (Cons, Shirley East) said ahead of Thursday's meeting: “This is great news and the reprovision of these services is essential to a borough the size of ours. I acknowledge that Covid-19 placed a great deal of pressure on our hospitals, but now is the time for the services to be returned.  The campaigns and petitions have certainly helped to make this happen.”

The report also announces plans to open six new operating theatres at Solihull Hospital. During the pandemic, three theatres were repurposed to accommodate elective surgery in a Covid-free environment – these will be returned to normal and three more will be created, taking the total number to 13.

December 2023 is the date the report mentions for the opening of the new theatres. It adds that they will be used for a broad range of cancer and non-cancer surgery.

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