MINOR injury units at two Herefordshire community hospitals will close over the winter for the second year running.

Wye Valley NHS Trust said the units will close on December 3 and are not expected to reopen until the end of April.

Following the last-minute closures in November last year, the decision to close the units at both Leominster and Ross-on-Wye community hospitals this year has been made as part of the trust’s strategy to help relieve winter pressures.

Hereford’s A&E, built in the anticipation of seeing 125 patients a day, is already regularly seeing in excess of 180 patients a day.

It is hoped the experienced emergency nurse practitioners who will be redeployed from the community hospitals to Hereford County Hospital will provide the enhanced support needed for the trust to cope with the expected increase in patients needing urgent care over the winter months.

Chief operating officer Jon Barnes said: “We have a duty to provide safe and efficient care to those who most need it – this decision will help us achieve that.”

A new 24-bedded modular ward being built on the hospital site is also anticipated to open before Christmas.