400,000 people ‘counting on health board to get it right’
injuries which would have the ability to carry out scans and certain tests.
Under all proposals, it would become a community hospital with nonmedical beds, as well as minor injury and midwife-led maternity units.
Tenby would also have a summer minor injuries unit.
Under two of the options, 399-bed Glangwili – the region’s oldest hospital – could become a community hospital, while a third possibility would also see it provide planned care such as surgery and scans.
In Llanelli, Prince Philip Hospital would remain a general hospital in two of the three scenarios and become a community hospital in the other.
Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth, which has an A&E department, would remain unchanged.
The changes would also mean that a new hospital would be built between Narberth and St Clears. This would provide both A&E and urgent care 24 hours a day.
In two of the three scenarios, it would also provide planned care.
The health board said a location between Narberth and St Clears provided a setting for a new hospital which was roughly halfway between Carmarthen and Haverfordwest.
All three options would also feature a commitment to move many more services out of hospitals into communities and provide care where possible in patients’ own homes.
A network of 10 community hubs will be developed across the region, either expanding current provision or by building new facilities.
Dr Phil Kloer, executive medical director and director of clinical strategy at the health board, said: “The decisions we make will affect not just people living now but generations to come.”
He added that more than 400,000 people were relying on the health board to get the decisions right.
Health board chief executive Steve Moore said they had considered a “doing nothing” option but the extent of the challenges faced meant it was not a possibility.
Hywel Dda has a budget deficit of about £69m – the biggest in Wales – and treats around 150,000 patients a week.
Mr Moore said he understood there would be “passion” expressed at changes, but said the public would have a chance to have their say before a decision is made in September.
“They [the options] all try to set out a vision, a model, which is better than what we already have,” he said.
“I think we have the humility to know that whilst we’ve done a really good job in putting together these options, there will be things we haven’t thought of and perspectives we haven’t taken and that is why people should get involved.”
Health board members agreed to put the three proposals – whittled down from an initial field of 25 options – out to public consultation over the next 12 weeks.
Seven public drop-in sessions have been organised and the public will be able to have their say on the plans outlined. The health board’s chair Bernadine Rees stressed that yesterday was “not about making decisions” but instead about putting forward the different options before they went out to consultation.
Following the publication of the proposals, health campaigner David Williams, from Milford Haven, said he believed all three suggestions would have adverse effects for patients in Pembrokeshire and warned travel times were “going to cost lives”.
He added: “Are tourists going to come here without a district general hospital? Are multinational industries?”
Preseli Pembrokeshire MP Stephen Crabb described the plans for Withybush as “deeply disappointing”.
“The consultation paper put forward by the health board casts another shadow over our local health services and creates yet more confusion and uncertainty for local people,” he said.
Plaid Cymru politicians from across
the health board area called for residents to engage with the consultation.
In a joint statement, Assembly Members Adam Price and Simon Thomas and Member of Parliament Jonathan Edwards said: “These transformation proposals come just days after the health board decided to support the establishment of a Major Trauma Centre in Cardiff over Swansea, which will now see residents of Hywel Dda endure incredible travel times to see their loved ones at a time of desperate need.
“It is not the best backdrop to launch a consultation in which the health board is asking residents to believe it is looking at their future needs.
“That said, we do appreciate the significant time and effort health board staff have invested in this project and we know they have worked hard to try to produce a positive vision for a health and wellbeing service fit for the future.
“There are opportunities to radically transform health outcomes for patients, and the health board has recognised all of the ingredients to make a successful and sustainable health and wellbeing service worthy of west Wales residents. The plans deserve an open mind and an honest assessment about the services we need and where they should be located.”
They added: “We appreciate the need to separate planned and urgent care, but we will not support the removal of beds from community hospitals which already have them.”
Labour’s Llanelli AM Lee Waters said it was “daft to expect people to travel from Llanelli to Whitland”.
“They must surely know that this is a non-starter and raising this unrealistic prospect in the first place is going to cause unnecessary anxiety,” Mr Waters added.
The local community health council will also be asked for its view and, if it objects, the final decision could rest with Health Secretary Vaughan Gething.