The CHIEF executive of Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has confirmed that Andover War Memorial Hospital’s minor injuries unit will re-open in the future.

The Trust closed Andover hospital’s minor injuries unit on Monday, April 6.

In Andover, NHS staff would see 30 to 40 patients in the minor injuries ward but in the last few days they saw five to seven patients.

Alex Whitfield said: “Patients have dropped off a lot over the weekend before we closed on Monday. We were down to single figures.

“It’s not a permanent closure. In terms of the staff at the minor injury’s unit, there are highly qualified nurses who can support intensive care patients and emergency department settings, and we needed to re-deploy them to those kinds of settings, giving the increase number of intensive care patients that we are looking after and are expecting to look after.

“The number of patients who were going there dropped off. We were in single figures a day. The footfall wasn’t there to justify having four or five fixed staff there all day.

“We fully expect to re-open it again. It’s a good service, and really loved by the community. It provides an amazing care for people in Andover.

“We wouldn’t want to make the closure permanent at all. It all depends on how the pandemic goes on for, we don’t know how long we will be battling this. We will have to wait and see.”