HYWEL Dda University Health Board will be reviewing the future of hospitals within its boundaries with several options, including hospital closures, likely to be put out to consultation in the Spring.
During questions from Plaid Cymru Leader Leanne Wood in the Senedd the First Minister, Carwyn Jones stated his government had ‘no view’ on the leaked proposals.
In a press conference today (Tuesday) Plaid Cymru’s Mid and West AM Simon Thomas said:
“The Welsh NHS is crying out for leadership. Patients in Wales need their government to set out its vision for the future, unfortunately Carwyn Jones sees things differently. He has attempted to shift the emphasis on the health board rather than on the direction given to the Welsh NHS by his government.
“The constant re-jigging of the health service in the west is just another example of a lack of leadership from the Labour administration in Cardiff Bay. The recent parliamentary review said nothing about hospital configuration
“This is yet another re-organisation under Labour, how many more times will it happen with the justification of ‘sustainability’ used and everyone forgets about the last one? Why was the last one not sustainable?
“Strengthening community health services is important and Plaid Cymru supports that, however it is not the same thing as arguing for ward closures and the transfer of services further away from people.
“The purpose of strengthening community health services should be to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions, not to prevent necessary ones. We will need hospitals for the foreseeable future.
“We need solutions on hospital services that recognises Wales has a rural/scattered population, rather than accepting a one size fits all urban model of healthcare which can be imposed on rural areas.
“The justification for these changes is staff shortages, but we think the answer here is recruitment more medical staff, more doctors, more nurses not centralising services.”
