OKEHAMPTON’S minor injuries service will remain in the town’s medical centre for the ‘foreseeable future’, it has been confirmed to the Times.

Last June, the future of the minor injuries unit at Okehampton Hospital was unclear after the NHS Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (NEW?Devon CCG) confirmed a new provider would be taking over the service.

The CCG explained at the time that no bidder had come forward to continue running the service at the hospital, so the medical centre had agreed to run the service for a temporary 12 month period.

The year-long contract was initially extended until October 2017.

The CCG has since confirmed that the contract would be extended until April 2019.

Kiran Bakhshi, practice manager at the medical centre, said: ‘It is my understanding that the MIU will remain at the medical centre for the foreseeable future. The initial contract was extended until October 2017.’

Sarah Hyde, media and communications officer for NEW Devon CCG, said: ‘I can confirm that we have extended the contract with Okehampton Medical Practice to run the minor injuries unit until April 2019.’

As the CCG was initially unable to secure a provider for a weekend service, the practice agreed to run a minor injury service from Monday to Friday from 8.15am until 6pm.

Okehampton Medical Practice will continue to run this service, until the contract is subject for renewal in April 2019.

The CCG has said it would continue to look for an alternative provider for the weekends but, until this time, patients in the Okehampton area who require a minor injury service at the weekend have been advised to visit Tavistock or Launceston hospitals.

This would mean that patients who need a minor injury service when these MIUs are not open would have to travel as far as Exeter to access a 24-hour service.