MAJOR service changes have been implemented at Wycombe Hospital today – meaning more emergency patients will face a trip to Stoke Mandeville.
More than 50,000 leaflets have been sent out to alert residents to the closure of the hospital’s emergency department.
The Emergency Medical Centre - formerly called A&E – has been replaced by a Minor Injuries and Illness Unit [MIIU].
The new unit, which will be run by GPs, is located in the modern building on the right hand side as you enter the Queen Alexandra Road site.
The MIIU is for non-emergency patients with health problems which are unsuitable for a GP appointment, and which they cannot treat themselves.
It will be open overnight thanks to a successful campaign initiated by the Bucks Free Press.
This means seriously ill or injured patients should go to Stoke Mandeville or Wexham Park hospitals - except for heart attack and stroke patients, who will still be treated at Wycombe.
Hospital chiefs say the changes will lead to emergency patients getting better care in bigger, more specialist A&E departments.
They also expect to reduce the current dependency on expensive agency doctors and nurses - who have regularly been used to plug staffing gaps in the emergency department.
Have you been treated at the new unit? Let us know what you think by contacting Lawrence Dunhill on 01494 755081 or email: ldunhill@london.newsquest.co.uk
