MEDICAL FACILITY TO HAVE NO BEDS
A NEW £3.9m health centre in Gwynedd will have no beds for patients, health bosses told a council meeting.
Canolfan Goffa Ffestiniog is set to replace Ysbyty Coffa Blaenau Ffestiniog Memorial Hospital, which was controversially closed in 2013.
Bosses from Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) told an extraordinary meeting of Gwynedd council’s care scrutiny committee that the hospital’s 12 inpatient beds were closed to improve patients’ care at home rather than in hospital.
In their place, six beds for patients from the Blaenau Ffestiniog area have been laid on 13 miles away at Ysbyty Alltwen in Tremadog.
The closure of the hospital also meant the loss of a minor injuries unit and X-ray facilities.
The replacement centre, which will not be a hospital, will open in October.
At the meeting, Betsi West area director Ffion Johnstone said: “Over four years, the average number of patients from Blaenau admitted each month to Ysbyty Alltwen is between 5.3 and 8 patients.”
She emphasised that it was the board’s responsibility to ensure a safe service for patients.
Committee member Cllr Beth Lawton asked how many patients went straight from Blaenau to Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor, rather than going to Ysbyty Alltwen.
Gary Doherty, BCUHB chief executive, said: “We struggle now with the 10 hubs we have got.
“We struggle to have acute beds available in Ysbyty Gwynedd. Waiting times are too long.”
Cllr Elfed Roberts said: “The feeling is that the health board has no respect towards the people of Blaenau.”
He added that now was “a golden opportunity” for the beds and units to be returned at the new facility.
Cllr Anwen Davies said taking away the beds and the units “did not make sense”, especially with the increase in visitors to Blaenau and its attractions.
Geraint Vaughan Jones, chair of pressure group Blaenau Memorial Hospital Defence Committee, accused Betsi of creating “a mess” in the healthcare of the area.
He said that, in 2012, the hospital had 12 beds, four GPs, minor injuries and X-ray units, and surgeries and clinics.
“Now we are dependent on locums who do not know the patients,” said Mr Jones, who accused Betsi of “discriminating” against the area.
In a referendum, the people of Blaenau Ffestiniog – Gwynedd’s third largest town – voted overwhelmingly in favour of bringing beds back to the community hospital.
At today’s meeting, the committee agreed to draw up draft recommendations, including looking at the provision of health care and transport across Gwynedd.
They also said they would re-assess the need for beds, minor injuries and X-ray units in the area because of recent changes in demography, and would ask Betsi to monitor data to find out patients’ movements and care.
Following the meeting, Mr Jones said the defence committee would continue to fight for the return of facilities to the area.