A SHORTAGE of staff has forced the temporary overnight closure of the minor injury unit at Tavistock Hospital.

But South Hams and West Devon Primary Care Trust, which manages the hospital, says the closure will free up resources to train extra nursing staff for the unit.

The temporary overnight closure of the minor injury unit, formerly known as casualty, starts on Monday and will last for three months.

It will be shut between 9pm and 8am.

The trust says the move will allow the hospital to concentrate staff at the time when there is most patient demand.

Sue Scrivener, locality manager at Tavistock Hospital emphasised the overnight closure was a temporary measure.

She said: ?This decision has not been taken lightly and this particular course of action has been identified as the one that affects the least number of patients in the area.?

Mrs Scrivener said the hospital had encountered difficulties in fully staffing the small unit for some time.

?It has only been possible to keep the unit open for 24 hours a day, due to the goodwill and commitment of the staff, many of whom have delayed their holidays and worked extra hours ? and the hospital thanks them for that.?

Mrs Scrivener said there was a nationwide problem with recruiting appropriately qualified nurses.

Philippa Bridle, also a locality manager at Tavistock Hospital, said the number of patients overnight was a small proportion of the 6,500 people who used the hospital each year.

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

The trust says any person requiring emergency treatment which was life threatening should, as usual, attend Derriford Hospital in Plymouth.

In a statement, the trust said it had a ?duty of care to staff and clearly no one could expect staff to sustain this pressure any longer?.

The hospital is currently unable to employ additional temporary staff due to the significant pressures on budgets of other high priority services to patients, but was hoping to recruit two new minor injury qualified staff.

Since August, training has taken place to develop the skills of four more staff members to cover the minor injury unit and these staff would be fully operational soon.

West Devon and Torridge MP John Burnett said: ?I want to pay tribute to the medical staff and management at Tavistock Hospital, who do an outstanding job.

?The hospital is vital for Tavistock and I have been assured this is very much a temporary measure.

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

Mr Burnett said he welcomed the decision to train up four nurses to deal with minor injuries, who were expected to qualify in the next three months.

?This is a stark illustration of how important the medical profession are to us all and I only hope that people of all ages will be encouraged to put themselves forward for work in such a fulfilling profession,? he added.

The trust says anyone needing advice regarding a minor injury can use a telephone advice service which is available 24 hours a day from highly-qualified nursing staff at NHS Direct on 0845 4647.

The minor injuries unit at Tavistock Hospital was forced to close on a number of occasions during overnight shifts last summer because of staff shortages.