Minor injuries unit - Herts and Essex hospital

  • The Minor Injuries Unit (MIU) at the Herts and Essex Hospital offers an alternative to A&E attendance for patients with minor injuries.

    The MIU is an ‘open access’ service that can be used by both adults and children over two years old who have sustained a minor injury. There are no appointments, so patients are seen in order of time of arrival unless their condition is more serious, for example a wound with uncontrolled bleeding or a dislocated joint or an obviously badly broken bone. Our aim is to see you as soon as possible but you will appreciate that sometimes several patients arrive at the same time, so some waiting time is inevitable.

     The MIU is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 4.30pm and can treat the following conditions and issues:

    • Minor impact injuries
    • Sports injuries
    • Dressings and stitches
    • Fractures
    • Lacerations
    • Penetrating foreign bodies
    • Burns
    • Whiplash
    • Abscesses
    • Bites and stings

    Contact the service

    AccessAble for accessibility information Tel:01279 827450 (this is a direct line to the unit) Please call this number and leave a message if you would like to book a video consultation, otherwise please attend the unit between 9am and 4.30pm.

     

  • Reception phone number: 01279 827450

How the service is provided

Our minor injuries unit can treat a wide variety of problems including:

  • Minor impact injuries
  • Sports injuries
  • Dressings and stitches
  • Fractures
  • Lacerations
  • Penetrating foreign bodies
  • Burns
  • Whiplash
  • Abscesses
  • Bites and stings

Conditions that minor injury units cannot treat include:

  • Chest pain
  • Respiratory problems
  • Abdominal pain
  • Gynaecological problems
  • Pregnancy problems
  • Drug overdose
  • alcohol related problems
  • Mental health problems and health conditions that would normally be treated by your GP or hospital

Please be aware that although there is an x-ray department at the Herts and Essex Hospital, the MIU team are not able to request the following x-rays due to radiation regulations:

  • Head, face, neck and throat
  • Chest, ribs and back

Who is eligible for the service

The service is available to everyone. However, please note the unit is not equipped to treat children under two years of age.

What will happen at your appointment

Patients attending the unit will be assessed by a nurse and then provided with the treatment.

The unit is a nurse led service where staff are experienced in dealing with accident and emergencies and are autonomous practitioners which means they can assess, diagnose and treat.

There are no doctors at the unit and if the nurse considers that the patient needs to see a doctor then the patient is referred to the most appropriate service (this may range from A&E, GP, specialist in other unit or other hospital).

The unit closes for registrations at 4.30pm, but we  advise patients to attend earlier in the day if possible - especially if your injury is longstanding - to avoid the busy period toward the end of the day.  

Making a referral

There is no need for a referral to attend our minor injuries unit.

Patient experience

If you would like to share your story, please contact the Patient Experience team on 01707 388036 or email pals.hchs@nhs.net.

We would also love to hear about your experience on our service; please complete our survey with your feedback.