Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Aberdeenshire’s last three overnight minor injury units to close next week

The move is expected to save £716,000 in the 2024-25 financial year.

Fraserburgh Hospital.
Three major injury units across Aberdeenshire, including in Fraserburgh, will close overnight from next week. Image: Kenny Elrick/ DC Thomson.

Three minor injury units in Aberdeenshire will permanently close overnight from next week.

From Monday, July 1, minor injury units – or MIUs – in Fraserburgh, Huntly and Peterhead will open from 7am to 7pm instead of 24 hours.

Sign for Minor Injuries Unit at Jubilee Hospital, Huntly.
Huntly’s minor injuries unit is part of the town’s Jubilee Hospital. Image: DC Thomson.

Despite over 3,200 people signing an online petition to keep the three MIUs open overnight, the Aberdeenshire Integrated Joint Board (IJB) decided to cut their hours in half.

The move, which is predicted to save £716,000 in the 2024-25 financial year and around £1 million annually, means that Aberdeenshire and the north-east will have no 24-hour MIUs.

Aberdeenshire Council’s Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) said MIUs “can only treat a very limited number of injuries” and reiterated that the Out of Hours GP Service (GMED) will continue to operate overnight.

The HSCP said that both of these services often “operate from the same building”, with both being accessed by calling NHS24 on 111.

Aberdeenshire minor injury units underused

According to the HSCP, data shows that the three MIUs are underused, with the maximum number of patients seen in one night in Huntly being three in December 2023.

In that same month, 17 nights saw no presentations of minor injuries at the unit, which is based at the town’s Jubilee Hospital.

MIU petition in Huntly.
Despite concerns, MIUs will close overnight. Image: DC Thomson.
Peterhead Community Hospital.
Peterhead Community Hospital will now operate 12 hours a day instead of 24. Image: Scott Baxter/DC Thomson.

For Peterhead Community Hospital, the maximum number of patients seen in one night in the last month of 2023 was five, while eight saw no one attend with minor injuries.

Further north in Fraserburgh – at the town’s hospital – the highest amount of patients seen in one night in December last year was four, while seven nights saw no one turn up with minor injuries.

All other presentations recorded in the units were to see GMED.

In Aberdeen, where there have been numerous issues with ambulances being stacked up outside Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI), the MIU closes at 8pm each night.

‘Nothing to suggest’ increase on ARI or Dr Gray’s services

Regarding concerns that the three MIUs closing overnight will put pressure on A&E services across Grampian, Aberdeenshire HSCP said: “Looking at the data we have about who is attending our units overnight and why, there is nothing to
suggest that the number of ambulances needed, nor the number of people having to travel to ARI or DR Gray’s will increase.

“This is because anything that would require emergency care would need to go to ARI or Dr Gray’s just now, so closing overnight would not impact on this.”

Conversation