Nurse-led service gears up for busy summer

As the temperatures rise and school holidays begin, North Norfolk’s beaches and tourist attractions are set to welcome thousands of holidaymakers this summer.

With an increase in visitors to the region, the team at Cromer Hospital’s Minor Injuries Unit are also gearing up for one of their busiest times of the year.

Daily attendances to the unit in Mill Road can double compared to the winter months with patients attending with a variety of injuries.

The nurse-run service is open seven days a week from 8am to 7.45pm.

Emergency nurse practitioner Guy Fiske said: “It can get very busy here in the summer months with patients coming in with burns, ankle sprains, wrist fractures, cuts to their feet, weever fish stings and removing foreign bodies from eyes.

We have a very experienced nursing team here and there are several fractures and dislocations that the nurse practitioners can manipulate and we work closely with the x-ray department here at Cromer Hospital.”

On an average day there are three nurse practitioners and a senior healthcare assistant are on duty at the Minor Injuries Unit at Cromer and two receptionists.

Last year, more than 13,000 patients were treated at Cromer MIU.

Additionally, around 150 patients a month come to the unit whose immediate healthcare needs may not be appropriately met by a MIU department.

Guy added: “Whilst we have a number of experienced Emergency Department nurse practitioners on site, the skills, equipment and resources we have here are for the treatment of minor injuries and not illnesses.

Some patients come to us with conditions that need to be seen by Emergency Department staff or by a GP. If people are not sure, we’d prefer them to call us and speak to one of our nurse practitioners before they make the journey to Cromer.”

Patients and holidaymakers come from across North Norfolk, Broadland and parts of Breckland to attend Cromer MIU and the team also run a review clinic for some injuries.

Cromer MIU can deal with the following injuries:

• Minor head injuries (with no loss of consciousness)
• Simple wounds
• Simple eye conditions, foreign body, corneal abrasions
• Minor burns
• Soft tissue injury
• Bites and stings, with no associated complications, or acute reaction
• Simple fractures
• Fingers that may be broken or dislocated

For more information, visit https://new.nnuh.nhs.uk/departments/minor-injuries-unit/