Five options are being considered by health bosses for the future of A&E services at Weston General Hospital.
The A&E – which is used by residents in the Burnham-On-Sea area – has been closed overnight since July 2017 after an inspection found it had dangerously low staff levels.
A decision on its future won’t be taken until early 2019, even though the closure of the A&E was initially intended to be a ‘temporary measure’ until the NHS Trust could recruit more people.
However, the emergency room at Weston hospital has been closed from 10pm to 8am since July 2017.
Health bosses have now come up with five potential options for the department, which are:
- The department returning to 24/7 operation
- Remain part-time as at present
- More GPs at the hospital and the A&E would deal with less serious cases than it does now, and remain closed
- To run as an emergency medical centre only open during the day
- Urgent medical centre dealing with even less serious cases
