AN ONLINE petition to bring back 24 hour paediatric services to Withybush General Hospital in Haverfordwest has gained over 5000 signatures in less than a week.
The change.org appeal, started by hospital campaigner Myles Bamford- Lewis, was launched on social media today and has received a ground-swell of support.
Myles said: “I am petitioning the Hywel Dda Health Board and Mark Drakeford, the Health Minister to return 24 hour paediatrics to Withybush. Back in August 2014 the Hywel Dda pushed through a policy of centralisation to Glangwili Hospital. This now means that there is no Special Care Baby Unit, no 24-hour children’s ward and no 24 hour antenatal care in Pembrokeshire.
He added: “This in itself has had a negative impact on health care in south west Wales with many families being forced to travel for over an hour to reach Glangwili. This has also caused a great deal of hardship on these families, myself included, as we have been forced to drive up to a 100 mile round trip to reach these services.”
In response to the start of the online petition, Chief Executive Steve Moore told The Herald: “We have heard ourselves in our public engagement meetings, and it is apparent from the support for this petition, that there is still a great deal of concern in Pembrokeshire about the changes to some women and children’s services that were made last year. At the same time, we have received very clear independent, advice from various Royal Colleges that clinical outcomes for patients have been maintained and there is better compliance with professional standards. A review said there was no clinical sense in reversing the service changes which we cannot ignore and we are not therefore pursuing plans to return overnight, inpatient paediatric services to Withybush Hospital.
“We are however, making changes to improve current services and patient experience, both at Withybush Hospital and Glangwili Hospital. At Withybush Hospital for example, we are planning to move the Paediatric Assessment Unit closer to the Emergency Department, as part of a wider scheme to re-develop the hospital. This would have the benefit of improving patient flow between the Emergency Department and assessment unit and provide the ability for enhanced support by the specialist paediatric team to emergency staff.
“At Glangwili Hospital we are progressing plans for the Phase Two project to improve the environment for women and children’s services and we will be using data from patient experience surveys and seeking views on these plans. In the interim period we have provided enhanced transport services for families between the two hospitals and we hope to soon provide improved accommodation for fathers and families who may wish to wait at Glangwili Hospital for their partners during early labour.”
To sign the petition follow the link on this website or on our Facebook page.
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