THE PRESSURE on healthcare in west Wales continues with the absence of out-of-hours GP care in Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire last weekend, with Pembrokeshire County Councillor Michael Williams comparing the situation to that of a ‘Second or Third World Nation’.
The lack of out-of-hours care has become a reoccurring issue in recent weeks, with an apology from Hywel Dda University Health Board in March over a similar incident, where patients in Llanelli’s Prince Philip Hospital, Carmarthen’s Glangwili Hospital, Haverfordwest’s Withybush Hospital, as well as Llandysul, were left without GP care out-of-hours. The four centres were said to be dealing with an ‘acute GP shortage’.
At the time the Health Board came out and said that they are working to resolve the problem, with the Chief Executive Steve Moore saying on March 26: “We can continue to provide services that are safe and robust for our local communities. On behalf of the health board I would again like to apologise for any concern or inconvenience caused due to ongoing staffing issues in the out-of-hours GP service.”
Last weekend people were advised to attend minor injuries units if possible, yet the facility in Tenby was closed over the weekend, leaving the A&E of Withybush or Glangwili the only option for many, flooding an already stretched service.
Councillor Williams, of Plaid Cymru, had a six and a half hour wait at Withybush last Friday night (Apr 6), and speaking on Saturday (Apr 7), he told us: “I dread to think how they will cope on a Saturday night. Tenby surgery yesterday had no one available to see patients. One person’s response was ‘If there is nobody here why not close’. In North Eastern Romania, ten miles from Ukraine, two years ago we saw a GP immediately free of charge. Which is the Second World Nation?”
The thinly stretched resources and stress on healthcare in west Wales has led to the Health Board suggesting a number of options in shaking up the region’s healthcare, which serves 384,000 people.
A document was leaked in January, which detailed nine alternatives to the current service, with the closures of hospitals in seven of them. All of the options centred on a system of community hubs with beds, with five scenarios closing Withybush, and two keeping all present hospitals open but centralising urgent care on either Withybush or Glangwili.
One option suggests an entirely new, urgent and planned care hospital in an unspecified location to replace Withybush, Glangwili and the Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli, whilst none of the scenarios suggest closing Bronglais in Aberystwyth.
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