A decision on the future of A&E services at Weston General Hospital will not be announced until next year.
It’s been closed overnight since July 2017 after an inspection found dangerously low staff levels.
It has been announced this week that a decision on re-opening it won’t be taken until early 2019.
The closure of the A&E – which is used by residents in the Burnham-On-Sea area – 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.
The night-time closure came into place after health bosses said dangerously low staff levels meant they could not operate the department safely 24 hours a day.
It has been described as a temporary closure to allow Weston Area Health NHS Trust (WAHT) to recruit extra staff – but the trust is still trying to recruit enough permanent staff to re-open the department overnight.
It says that it has been able to recruit consultants and middle-tier level doctors, but there continues to be a nursing shortage within the emergency department.
Therefore, the CCG says a decision won’t be made until after a consultation on the future of health services in the Weston area takes place next year.
Healthy Weston is the vision for joining up services for better care in Weston-super-Mare and surrounding areas. This includes the future for services at Weston General Hospital.
