Patients ‘not being referred to local clinics’

PEOPLE IN a coastal town are worried that NHS 111 is not putting callers through to a new appointment-only service – meaning 60-mile round trips to get help for a minor injury.

It comes after a radical restructuring of health services which has had a major impact on Withernsea and Hornsea.

Earlier this week minor injuries units closed in Hornsea, Withernsea and Driffield to be replaced by urgent treatment centres at Beverley, Bridlington and Goole, which will treat everything from fractures to whiplash and burns.

Because of the outcry over the long distances people on the coast are facing, East Riding Clinical Commissioning Group CCG set up so-called “8 to 8” centres, hourly slots at Withernsea and Driffield hospitals for minor injuries including sprains, burns and insect bites. But they have to be booked through Rotherhambased NHS 111.

Withernsea councillor Brian Cloke said he had four reports of call handlers being “totally unaware” of the “8 to 8” centres and in two cases advising patients to travel to Beverley, a 60-mile round trip. He said: “We lost our battle over the MIU and this was supposed to be a concession recognising the remoteness of our location. The concern is that it will fail if 111 is not making appointments.”

Jim Blake, who lives in Withernsea, rang NHS111 a week after his mother was sent to the local MIU by GPs, shortly before it closed, for an infected finger. He decided to test the new system by ringing a call handler, giving the same symptoms as his mother, and mentioning the “8 to 8” centre. He said: “She went away for 10 minutes and spoke to a supervisor. No one could find Withernsea or any other 8 to 8 locations. Withernsea does not exist.”

East Riding CCG said they had been getting a “quite a lot” of calls on the subject and advised those with concerns to contact their patient relations team. A statement said the Withernsea centre took appointments based on “appropriate clinical need.” It added: “If an 8 to 8 Centre is appropriate for the symptoms a patient presents with, it will show up for the NHS111 call handler to give as an option.”