FEARS are mounting that a pioneering doctor-led scheme at Kidderminster Hospital could be scrapped if patients do not make more use of it.

Wyre Forest MP Dr Richard Taylor believes the district "cannot afford to lose" the emergency unit, which is currently midway through a six-month trial period.

The unit, known as the Urgent Care Centre (UCC), was set up at the hospital's Minor Injuries Unit in October, potentially providing a blueprint for other hospitals like Kidderminster's stripped of accident and emergency departments.

Worcestershire Primary Care Trust and the body which runs the county's hospitals, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, have put up half the funding for the trial and will jointly determine the centre's future.

Dr Taylor is trying to raise the unit's profile as there are fears the pilot will be discontinued at the end of the six-month trial period in April because not enough patients know what the unit is for.

The trial is aimed at reducing the numbers flowing through the stretched accident and emergency department at Worcestershire Royal Hospital but Wyre Forest patients are still turning up for emergency treatment there because they are unaware they can be treated at Kidderminster.

He said: "Staff tell me patients from Shropshire, Staffordshire and parts of Dudley are coming to the unit more readily than our own Wyre Forest patients.

"It is felt local people have a poor understanding of the capabilities of the unit. The unit has got to be selffunding.

At the moment, the Kidderminster League of Friends meets half the cost, with the rest met by the NHS trusts.

"If, at the end of the trial, the acute trust and primary care trust say it isn't working we cannot afford to lose it.

"There'll be an absolute riot because this centre is the first sign of improvement for emergencies that we've had since downgrading.

"It could be a model for other hospitals and particularly with an ongoing health review by Lord Dazi."

He added: "There is talk of putting an Urgent Care Centre in Worcester which, if they put that in, could also be used as a reason to take ours away - it would be ridiculous."

Dr Taylor also wants to see the pilot extended to cover weekday evening shifts until at least 10pmand weekends.

The UCC operates between 9am and 5pm, Mondays to Fridays, with two doctors working alternate shifts and one on duty at any time.

The centre's future after thetrial will depend on the potential for savings being made by the emergency unit's doctors treating people who would previously have been sent to accident and emergency departments elsewhere in the county.