Minor injuries can be treated during weekends at Wisbech thanks to longer opening hours until the end of April.

The opening of the Minor Injuries unit at North Cambs Hospital has proved so successful it has been extended until the end of next month.

The unit, run by Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust, has been running weekend opening hours since January.

The aim was to provide more accessible services to Wisbech residents and reduce the pressures on A&E departments in Kings Lynn and Peterborough during the busy winter period.

It will now be open at weekends until 27 April, including Good Friday and Easter Monday.

Mike Passfield, head of nursing, unplanned Care in Ely and the Fens, said: “Although people should still go to A&E for life threatening emergencies, by opening the Minor Injuries Unit at weekends for another month we are offering local people with a minor injury an alternative to A&E. This will be particularly useful over the Easter bank holiday.

“The need for the service has been demonstrated by the high number of patients we’ve treated at weekends, most of whom didn’t need to go to hospital. We have seen 363 patients in total, with 342 being treated, preventing the need to go to hospital.”

The Minor Injuries Unit is open 8.30am to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday until 27 April. Patients who need x-rays at weekends will be referred to Doddington Hospital where appropriate.

The unit operates a walk-in service, no appointment is necessary. The expanded opening times are in addition to its usual opening times from Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 6pm.

Experienced and highly trained nurses and paramedics at the minor injuries unit treat a wide range of problems that do not need a visit to A&E, such as wounds, cuts, bites, burns, joint injuries, limb fractures, sports injuries, emergency contraception, eye problems, earache for patients aged two years and over and minor head injuries with no loss of consciousness.