A MINOR injuries service has opened at a Worcester GP surgery to reduce the need for patients to attend A&E.

The service is running at St John’s House Surgery in Bromyard Road, St John’s, Worcester, for patients who need urgent medical care for complaints such as sprains, cuts, minor head injuries, ear ache and coughs and colds.

Anyone can use the walk-in centre, provided they are registered at the practice, which is open to patients in Worcester, except Warndon, Malvern and in outlying villages west of Worcester.

Two or three doctors will run the service from 11am-6pm on weekdays. The idea was devised by Dr Nikki Burger, one of the partners at the practice, with funding from NHS Worcestershire, which holds the purse strings for NHS care in the county.

Dr Burger negotiated with NHS Worcestershire for funding but did not reveal the amount of cash released.

About 250 patients a month from St John’s House surgery attend A&E at Worcestershire Royal Hospital. The surgery aims to cut A&E attendances by registered practice patients by half.

Dr Burger said: “We were trying to reduce the number of patients going to A&E unnecessarily. It is now a more convenient and local community service for patients. The theme has been ‘do you really need to go to A&E?’ Just think twice. Patients will get a better service here because we have all their records. It’s a more personalised service.”

If the practice can show it has cut A&E attendances between December and March then it will get cash to fund a nurse to work at the minor injuries service.

Routine check-ups for blood pressure, asthma and diabetes should still be done via the appointments system.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which manages Worcestershire Royal Hospital, has battled to keep A&E attendances down, especially in winter when staff may have to deal with more patients because of flu, swine flu and norovirus.

The Government says 98 per cent of A&E patients should be seen, treated, discharged or transferred within four hours. Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust consistently hit the target last year. So far this year staff have seen 106,837 out of 107,921 patients – 99 per cent – in the time limit.

Phil Milligan, the trust’s chief operating officer, said: “We are pleased to see the development. It is entirely consistent with our mission: Local Care for Local People.”