Shepton Mallet Community Hospital's minor injury unit could be closed down and replaced with an "urgent treatment centre" that might not be situated in the town.

The NHS runs seven such units (known as MIUs) in Somerset, which provide health services for people who are unable to see a GP at short notice and don't need to go to A&E.

The government is seeking to roll out urgent treatment centres across the country – larger hubs which are run and staffed by GPs, with longer opening hours and a wider range of services.

But Somerset cannot afford to replace all its MIUs with these centres – meaning some of them may close in the years ahead.

Some of the community hospitals which house the existing MIUs will also need "significant investment" if they are to remain functional.

The Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) – which decides where health spending is allocated in the county – has launched a consultation on the future of community health services, including the role of MIUs.

The issue was discussed at a meeting of the CCG's governing body at its Yeovil headquarters on Thursday morning (January 30).

The future of community health services is part of the CCG's Fit For My Future programme, which seeks to modernise and streamline the way health services are delivered to address rising demand and demographic changes.

Alison Rowswell, the programme's deputy director, said in her written report that urgent treatment centres "provide a greater range of services and a higher level of care than current minor injury units".

Urgent treatment centres would be open for at least 12 hours a day, seven days a week, with patients being able to book appointments in advance if they wished.

She said: "In Somerset it will not be practical or affordable to replace every MIU with an urgent treatment centre, so we will have to consider how many we will need for the county.

"This means some MIUs would close, while others would be replaced by urgent treatment centres."

The CCG has not identified options for which MIUs would close at this stage.

The seven MIUs currently in operation are located in Burnham-on-Sea, Bridgwater, Chard, Frome, Glastonbury (known as West Mendip), Minehead and Shepton Mallet.

Several of the existing community hospitals which house them have seen temporary closures of their inpatient wards due to low staffing levels.

Ms Rowswell said it was not currently clear what the future role of these hospitals would be within any new model of community healthcare.

She said: "There is a reliance on bed-based care. There is an opportunity to have a look at other models which are effective.

"Some of our community hospital estate requires improvement. Some of them need significant investment to make them fit for purpose."

David Heath, one of the CCG's non-executive directors, argued that any consultation should be delayed until some more concrete options had been put together.

The former MP for Somerton and Frome said: "I would rather wait a little bit longer and have very clear options on this.

"This should not be a closed book consultation. People can relate to something real, rather than a pie-in-the-sky approach."

Dr Alex Murray, Fit For My Future's clinical director, said there would be "a further round of consultation" later in 2020 with more detailed proposals.

Any business case for changing the service would not come forward until early-2021 at the earliest.

CCG chief executive James Rimmer said: "We know our health and care services in Somerset are not currently organised in the best way to support people to live independent, healthier lives.

"Our population is changing and the support they need from our services is changing too.

"Our services have to adapt to make sure we are meeting the needs not only of people living in Somerset today, but also those of their children and grandchildren in the future."

The consultation on community health services runs until April 12, with a drop-in session taking place at Shepton Mallet Community Hospital on February 13 from 11am to 2pm.

To take part in the consultation online, click on the red button below.