HEALTH chief have done a U-turn on plans to extend the opening hours of the minor injuries unit at Savernake Hospital to 24-hour coverage.

The proposal to extend the unit to a round the clock service was contained in a blueprint for change issued by the Kennet and North Wiltshire Primary Care Trust in April.

New proposals unveiled by the trust include a 24-hour minor injury unit at Chippenham Community Hospital with the Savernake unit continuing to open from 8am to 10pm daily.

A spokesman for the primary care trust said the situation at Savernake would be assessed again when new GP contracts come into force in December 2004.

Former mayor Margaret Boulton, who is Marlborough's county councillor, is attending a meeting of the trust today at which the latest proposals will be outlined.

Coun Boulton, a former nurse, said the original proposal to open the Savernake unit 24 hours a day had been welcomed in the area.

Taking a pragmatic view, however, Coun Boulton said it was good news that Savernake would keep its unit without any cuts in its hours which, she said, could have been proposed.

Coun Boulton said: "It would have been nice to have the unit open 24 hours a day and I will be attending the meeting to see why the proposal has changed."