Yate X-ray change not so transparent!

As you may have read in the Gazette, from 30th June NHS South Gloucestershire intend to stop the extended evening hours of the X-ray facility in the new Westgate centre, with the facility closing at 5pm. They say that very few people have been using the evening service, so it's not worth running.

This raises several questions:

Why didn't they consult anybody locally about this? They didn't tell anyone that numbers were low, despite all the excellent joint working in the run-up to the opening of the centre.

Why are the numbers low? Have people been told that they can get their X-rays done locally, or out of "normal hours"?

Your Focus Team has been pushing for this issue to be looked at properly before the final decision is made. Councillors asked for an emergency meeting with local health chiefs and achieved a breakthrough. The change of hours has already been put in process, but is now being treated as a suspension whilst discussions take place, not a permanent decision.

Local councillors are working with health chiefs to draw up a survey that asks you, the residents of the area what hours you want the Minor Injuries Unit and X-ray open, and why you've chosen to go to X-ray or A and E at Frenchay rather than the MIU / X-ray at Yate.

We also want to find out how the move of A and E exclusively to Southmead will affect your choice of where to go in a crisis (bearing in mind that Frenchay will only have a MIU at Frenchay exactly equivalent to Yate's) .

The health authorities are pulling together data and then are going to work with local councillors to do a public survey between now and the end of September. So, it is not saved yet, but the final cut has been suspended. Please watch this space for more news...