Launceston Community

Facilities at Launceston Community Hospital

• Minor injury unit -  closed from 25 July until 1 October 2021. Access other MIU units by using  NHS 111 online or by calling 111.
• X-ray: Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm. No facilities at weekends or bank holidays. 
• Inpatient care
• Outpatient clinics
• Free parking
• Disabled parking and access

Please note Launceston Hospital does not provide dental services. Visit Westcountry Dental Care's website for information on how to access dental services.

Minor injury unit - closed 25 July to 1 October 2021

Position statement

We recognise we should have done more to share this decision with the local community and apologise for our lack of communication.

The decision to proceed with the temporary closure was made by a group of joint health and social care leaders who have been meeting regularly to manage the demand for these services.

The temporary closure came into effect on Sunday 25 July to allow staff to be relocated to the minor injury unit in Liskeard. Liskeard minor injury unit is a much larger unit and is, therefore, able to see more patients. Staff from Launceston will also work in the minor injury units in Bodmin and Stratton.

This decision is in line with the Trust’s business as usual and covid resilience plans which consolidate resources to ensure we are able to maintain safe services.

Like many other businesses, we have staff off sick both with coronavirus and other conditions or who have been pinged by Track and Trace and need to self-isolate. National guidelines were circulated on Friday 23 July about the ability for frontline NHS staff not to self-isolate and we are working to bring staff back to work when safe to do so.

Anyone who needs urgent but not emergency care should contact 111 in the first instance. Please stay on the line while you are connected to a call handler who will direct you to the most appropriate service. This may be a minor injury unit in Bodmin, Liskeard, Stratton, or Tavistock. Contacting 111 first allows the service to be notified of a person’s arrival and helps us to maintain social distancing in our waiting rooms. This is particularly important considering the rising number of coronavirus cases in Cornwall.

GPs also remain available and are offering appointments by telephone, video-call, and face-to-face.

The agreement is to close the unit until 30 September 2021.

We will keep the position under continual review and will update the community should the situation change.

All other services at Launceston Hospital continue to operate as usual.

How to access urgent care if you need it

If you need urgent - but not emergency - NHS care in Cornwall, contact NHS 111.

Just contact NHS 111 by phone or online at any time of day or night, to find out where you should go and when.

If needed, expert clinicians will arrange for you to be seen at the Emergency Department (ED) or at our range of other treatment units. Please don’t just turn up, as you may be directed elsewhere or have to wait longer.

This is a new way of accessing urgent care in Cornwall, to make sure everyone stays as safe as possible during the pandemic. It will help the NHS manage the flow of patients when capacity in waiting rooms is much smaller than before, to maintain distancing and reduce the risk of infection.

It means you will get the right treatment, more quickly - and probably closer to home as well.

And if you’re a visitor to Cornwall, you don’t need to look up details of NHS services if you need urgent treatment – just phone 111 or go online at:  111.nhs.uk/

Check the latest MIU opening hours and waiting times

Wards