In January the Local Health Board published plans to change the way health services are delivered in Mid and West Wales. This will affect services currently provided at Withybush Hospital.
You can read Hywel Dda University Health Board’s full proposals here.
The Health Board's proposals are not new. I believe they are basically another version of the original plan to downgrade Withybush Hospital that was launched 16 years ago.
Under these proposals, the Accident & Emergency Care department would be removed from Withybush and relocated to a new hospital site near St Clears.
In principle, I welcome any proposals that would see new Welsh Government investment in health services across the region. But I remain deeply concerned about the ongoing shift of vital services away from our community in Pembrokeshire. I want to see new investment come to Withybush.
Since 2006, along with thousands of other local residents, I have marched and protested in the name of defending local services. I still believe the vision of ever-greater centralisation of life-saving health services is not the right one for our County. Many residents will see a significant increase in journey times to hospital as a result.
The efforts of frontline health workers during the pandemic have been outstanding – especially the vaccination programme. But the last two years have also seen an increase in local people reporting problems accessing GP or dental services. Clearing the backlog of appointments and operations will be enormously challenging and the Welsh Government need to make this their top priority.
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