TAVISTOCK Hospital?s minor injury unit will remain closed overnight for a further four months, because two specialised nursing vacancies have still not been filled.

South Hams and West Devon Primary Care Trust, which manages the hospital, has extended the temporary closure of the unit between the hours of 9pm and 8am until the end of September.

The unit was originally supposed to be closed overnight for three months, from the beginning of March.

The announcement follows an unsuccessful attempt to overcome staff shortages by recruiting two nurses fully qualified in the treatment of minor injuries.

Mrs Sue Scrivener, hospital locality manager, said: ?Basically, the reasons for not being able to re-open the night time service at this stage are that we?ve still not found anyone to take the two specialised vacancies, and our existing staff undergoing training are not quite ready,? she said.

?We didn?t have any applications for the F-grade nursing post, and I think we only had one or two responses for the E-grade post.

?Recruitment difficulties in the NHS are a nationwide problem at the moment, and nurses with minor injury training are few and far between.?

Mrs Scrivener said the hospital would now try to recruit non-specialist nursing staff to take over from the four nurses who are being trained for the unit.

She said the nurses undergoing the training should be fully qualified for the re-opening of the night time service later this year.

Speaking in February, just before the unit?s overnight closure, Philippa Bridle, also a locality manager at Tavistock Hospital, had said the number of overnight patients was a tiny proportion of the 6,500 people who use the hospital each year.

?On average, only one case per night is seen after 9pm, with even fewer patients after 11pm,? she said.

At the time the closure was announced, West Devon and Torridge MP John Burnett welcomed the decision to train existing staff to cover the minor injuries unit.

He said: ?I want to pay tribute to the medical staff and management at Tavistock Hospital, who do an outstanding job.

?Management at the hospital have tried very hard to recruit minor injury specialist nurses. It is particularly difficult at the moment as there has been a national and local shortage.?

The trust says a 24-hour telephone service, manned by qualified nursing staff, is available for anyone needing advice regarding a minor injury. The number is 0845 4647.

Anyone requiring emergency treatment for a life threatening injury should attend Derriford Hospital, in Plymouth.