Staff shortages have forced a hospital's minor injuries unit to cut its opening hours by nearly half and GPs are saying they will be withdrawing their cover for the unit.

Vickie Williams, Harwich Health campaigner, outside the hospital

The double blow at Harwich Hospital has renewed fears about the state of health services in the town.

The minor injuries unit reduced its opening hours today, and all but one of the GPs at Dovercourt Health Centre say they will not provide cover from April.

The unit is the second health service in Tendring to be blighted by staffing problems. Clacton maternity was closed until further notice because of sickness among midwives.

Essex Rivers Heathcare Trust, which runs the service, said the measures were temporary. But health campaigners fear the public are being kept in the dark.

Vickie Williams, chairman of Tendring Health Action Group (THAG), said: "This has been done without any warning to the public and people are going to be very worried indeed.

"I do think it is going to cause an awful lot of problems, with people having to go to Clacton and Colchester instead."

From today the unit will open from 9am to 5pm every day instead of 7.30am to 9.30pm a reduction of six hours a day or 42 per cent of normal hours.

Essex Rivers said it was doing all it could to recruit emergency nurse practitioners and the situation would be constantly be reviewed.

Five of the six GPs at Dovercourt Health Centre have resigned their cover from Harwich Hospital's minor in juries unit from April after a stand-off originally caused over a pay dispute.

Paul Unsworth, chief executive of Tendring Primary Care Trust, said the unit would become nurse-led with back-up from emergency doctors at Colchester if needed.

Mr Unsworth said it was looking at alternative salary arrangements for GPs as well as a drop-in centre with multi-skilled staff as future options at the hospital.

An extra GP for out-of-hours calls, based in Harwich, starts next month.

Published Monday, February 18, 2002