A protest camp has been set up outside a Welsh hospital after an announcement its minor injury unit will shut at night for six months due to concerns about patient safety and the wellbeing of staff. Prince Philip Hospital will see its 24-hour minor injury unit’s provision will be halved for six months from November 1 onwards. You can read about that here.
The First Minister told the Senedd on Tuesday the health board had struggled to recruit qualified doctors to support the unit meaning the unit has become an emergency nurse practitioner-led service. She said between February and July there were 42 uncovered slots in the rota.
Plaid Cymru MS for mid and west Wales, Cefin Campbell, said there was a "tangible sense of worry, anger, and disbelief" in Llanelli after the announcement. He said Llanelli, west Wales’ largest town, lost its A&E provision more than 10 years ago and "this is another blow to health provision in tre’r sosban and the surrounding area".
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Addressing Eluned Morgan in the Senedd he said: "Now the alternative for those requiring out-of-hours medical attention is travelling to Glangwili or Morriston hospitals, both already facing huge pressures and demands on their services. Now you and Labour politicians locally will inevitably pass the buck on to the health boards but let’s face the facts – this drastic cut to frontline health services is happening under Welsh Labour Government’s watch. A failure to recruit more doctors, poor workforce planning, shrinking budgets –these are the Welsh Government’s failings but, ultimately, it’s the people of Llanelli and the surrounding area who are paying the price."
He asked whether the First Minister accepted responsibility for that. She replied: "I’m very aware that there is a lot of local concern about the possible changes to services. Of course the work of the Welsh Government is to provide strategic direction and it’s up to the health board to design and deliver safe services. That’s how the system works. Now, of course, any change to services has to follow the guidance of the national service and they will need to discuss with Llais and the local community. Safety is the main priority and I know that the health board has been struggling to recruit the appropriate staff and that the remaining staff – many of them – have been off with stress and, so, there is a reason for this change." For the latest politics news in Wales sign up to our newsletter here.
Llanelli MS Lee Waters said the health board had promised last year that overnight care at the minor injuries unit in Llanelli would be maintained but now "they’ve changed their mind". He added: "Now they say the unit isn’t safe because they can’t recruit GPs. But staff say there have been no active efforts and it’s poor management of the unit that’s putting people off. If overnight police or fire cover was removed from one of Wales’ largest towns I’d expect intervention and I don’t see why healthcare should be any different. A protest camp has now been set up outside the hospital. The health board clearly don’t understand Llanelli if they think the people will just let this go."
Mrs Morgan replied: "I absolutely understand the frustration and I know the efforts that the local community have made to try and support the services in the area. The health board has attempted, as I understand it, to recruit qualified doctors to support the unit but has been unsuccessful meaning that the unit has become an emergency nurse practitioner-led service. And part of the problem was that, between February and July, there were 42 uncovered slots in the rota. Now the primary responsibility of a health board is to make sure that the services they offer are actually safe. And so that is what they are trying to do. But I think that it is important for the health board to make sure that they listen to the local population and that they make efforts to make sure that the staff that are needed are in place. But the staff who are currently there are not equipped to deal with major issues and the stress of people turning up with major issues is causing a significant number of absences. I do think that we have to be practical and realistic about the situation but, of course, it's up to the health boards to make a call. Thirty-two per cent of overnight activity are people presenting with serious conditions who shouldn't actually be presenting to a minor injuries unit."
