THE minor injuries unit at Accrington Victoria Hospital will be run by nurses only from next month after a decision to withdraw the three doctors currently based there.

The decision to take doctors away from the unit, which sees 30,000 patients a year, has sparked concerns that more people will unnecessarily flock to A&E in Blackburn, with fears that Accrington's hospital is being downgraded.

Bosses at the Primary Care Trust which runs the unit, decided to withdraw the doctors as part of a wave of initiatives across the NHS to give more responsibility to specialist nurses.

The nurses already run the walk-in unit between 3pm and 6pm each day, when no doctor is on duty.

But Councillor Tony Dobson, deputy leader of Hyndburn Council, said he had concerns about the move.

He said: "When people feel there's something wrong with them they want to be seen by a doctor. My fear is that the hospital is being downgraded and that people will stop going to Accrington Victoria and will go to A&E instead if they know there are no doctors in Accrington.

"If people stop using it, the hospital could be served with a closure notice. We have regular meetings with the PCT and I will be raising this at the next meeting."

David Rogers, the PCT's deputy chief executive, said: "The minor injuries unit deals with people who don't need to go to A&E, who have cuts, sprains, bites, stings, minor head injuries and minor eye injuries.

"People who can be treated in Accrington will be treated there and if the situation warrants it they will be taken to A&E by ambulance.

"Most of the patients don't need the doctors' medical input. There are 12 qualified nurses, seven of them emergency nurse practitioners who are highly-trained specialist nurses. The trend in the NHS is towards specialist nurses and there are nurse-led minor injuries units all over the place. We are conducting a pilot study, with having the unit nurse-led between 3pm and 6pm every day and the results so far are positive."