WEST WALES HOSPITALS COULD CLOSE IN MAJOR HEALTHCARE SHAKE-UP
WEST Wales hospitals could be closed in a major health shake-up, it has been revealed.
Nine radical options are reportedly being considered by Hywel Dda University Health Board – some of which would involve the closure of Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen, Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli, Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest, or all three hospitals.
It is understood those options are currently being reviewed and whitled down before they are made public in coming months.
The health board said: “All potential options, which are clinically-led, consider significant change to the status quo and focus on improving the health of the local population and transferring more hospital services into the community where appropriate.
“Some consider whether hospitals need to take on different roles, or even need to be replaced. A fewer number of preferred options will be released publicly in the spring, when the health board is confident they are viable, safe and an improvement on what is currently provided.”
The Western Telegraph reported there were several options being considered, the first of which include what is described as 24/7 urgent care and four community hubs with ‘location optimised according to need.’
This would see medical beds at Bronglais and Prince Philip intensive care unit and minor injuries unit as well as a planned care facility at Glangwili. That option would see Withybush Hospital closed and replaced with four community hubs and an urgent care facility. Community hospital sites will either maintain beds, become an administrative base or close according to need.
Another possibility would have a rural district general hospital at Bronglais with a minor injuries unit and separate planned care facility, with planned care facilities at Withybush and Prince Philip.
This would see Glangwili close and replaced by 24/7 urgent care and seven community hubs.
That second option would see all three hospitals as we know them closed and replaced with a major urgent and planned care hospital, separate but on the same site. There would also be seven community hubs, some with 48-hour observation beds and providing frailty and dementia services.
A third option would see all hospitals closed and the building of a tertiary specialist centre. This option, as with all featured, include a rural district general hospital at Bronglais.
The fourth option would see seven, 24/7 community hubs plus urgent care at Glangwili, planned care at Withybush and a rural district general hospital at Bronglais along with specialist rehabilitation at Llanelli.
A similar fifth option includes the same number of 24/7 community hubs but with urgent care at Withybush and planned care at Glangwili.
Another plan on the ‘long-list’ of health board proposals would see Withybush and Prince Philip closed and replaced with seven community hubs, some to have beds, and urgent and emergency care at Glangwili.
The seventh option would see 24/7 urgent and emergency provision at Withybush Hospital with Glangwili and Prince Philip replaced with planned care facilities and seven community hubs, some with beds.
And in the final option discussed, a major urgent and planned care hospital would result in the closure of Withybush and Glangwili, with acute medicine and minor injuries unit at Prince Philip and two community hubs.
Last week the health board issued a press release essentially warning they would be announcing major plans to shake-up health services in west Wales in the spring.
In it, medical director Dr Philip Kloer said: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our health service and community to work together to design an NHS which is fit for our generation and beyond.
“We need to develop more proactive, resilient and better-resourced local community services to support and improve people’s health and wellbeing, and avoid deterioration where possible.
“A number of our services are fragile and dependent on significant numbers of temporary staff, which can lead to poorer quality care.
“For us specifically in Hywel Dda, the geography we cover is large, with many scattered communities that are getting older, needing more holistic health and social care treatment and support. Because of this, we need to better resource our community-based care, which is where most of our patient contact is, and help people manage their health conditions.”
He added: “This will mean changing hospital-based care, as well as community care, and we appreciate the attachment local people and our own staff have for their local hospitals.
“We will not put in place any change that isn’t safe for our patients and population. And we will look at all the impacts from ensuring services are safer with better patient outcomes, to considering the wider impact on people, including the most vulnerable.”
A spokeswoman for Hywel Dda health board said:“We understand this will stimulate debate and speculation in the community as people want to know right now what this might mean for their communitybased healthcare or their local hospital, but we believe this has been the right thing to do to really take people with us and involve as many people as possible.”
Labour MP Nia Griffith said: “I will always speak up for getting the best possible access to hospital services for people in the Llanelli constituency, and for keeping services at Prince Philip Hospital.
“When I sought reassurances from the Chair of Hywel Dda, she explained that the health board is currently looking at a whole range of options, and stressed the considerable investment that has gone into Prince Philip and Pride in the services there.
“I will be keeping a close eye on the situation.”
Plaid Cymru’s Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs Simon Thomas AM said: “Trying to have a health service with no hospitals locally is something no other country would even attempt, but that doesn’t appear to stop this relentless ideology of pretending you can deal with an elderly population by substituting hospital beds in exchange for a few extra community health staff with iPads.”
No preferred option has yet been determined by the health board, and it has not signed off or agreed to any change at this stage.