Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the provision of healthcare services in Launceston, in the context of the upcoming closure of the Launceston Minor Injuries Unit.

The Government is aware of the temporary closure of the Launceston Minor Injuries Unit (MIU), which is a decision that was made due to staffing challenges. The responsibility for the delivery, implementation, and funding decisions for services ultimately rests with the appropriate National Health Service commissioning body, which in this case is the NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board (ICB), rather than the Government. This includes the responsibility to conduct an impact assessment on traveling, provision of services, and an equality impact assessment. The Government has been informed that the Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust completed an Equality Impact Assessment for the closure, which identified the impact to be increased travel time or distance to an alternative MIU.

In some scenarios, such as this one, the NHS provider may need to make a temporary service change due to a risk to safety or the welfare of patients or staff. These temporary changes do not represent a permanent or irreversible decision about an NHS service. Permanent changes would only be possible by following the due process, including appropriate engagement with people and communities.

The Government expects the local NHS to develop clear plans for reverting temporary service changes. If this cannot be done safely, the ICB will need to develop plans for a permanent solution by following the due process, including appropriate engagement with people and communities.