'Don't add to pressure on our hospitals'

POLITICIANS in Carmarthenshire are calling for guarantees from health bosses that any shake-up to services in the region must not have a detrimental impact or put extra pressure on Carmarthen’s Glangwili and Llanelli’s Prince Philip hospitals.

- IAN LEWIS

They are also calling on health chiefs to listen to the public’s views about the plans.

Hywel Dda University Health Board has launched a public consultation over its Clinical Services Plan, which runs until August 31, looking at potential changes after classifying nine key services across Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire as “critical”.

Health bosses have asserted that immediate reorganisation is essential. The identified services are critical care, dermatology, emergency general surgery, endoscopy, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, radiology, stroke and urology.

Hywel Dda has said changes are needed “because of the risks to them being able to continue to offer safe, quality services or timely care” and that clinical teams are currently spread across multiple sites, over a wide three-county area.

In terms of critical care, three options are intensive care units remaining at Bronglais in Aberystwyth and Glangwili; an enhanced care unit being established at Haverfordwest’s Withybush hospital and Llanelli’s Prince Philip; and patients at Prince Philip or Withybush requiring specialist critical care being transferred to Glangwili.

At present, full emergency general surgery services, including surgical operations, for adults are provided at Glangwili, Bronglais and Withybush. Patients from Prince Philip are transported to Glangwili.

The consultation presents two options in this area.

One option is for consultant surgeons specialising in emergency general surgery to be stationed at Bronglais and Glangwili hospitals to provide comprehensive emergency services, including surgical procedures. Patients from Withybush requiring surgery will be transferred to Glangwili for their operations and then brought back to Withybush to recuperate when they are well enough.