News

GP shortage ‘caused by Withybush downgrades’

Published

9 years ago

September 22, 2015

docs PEMBROKE residents have expressed concerns about reduced opening hours in the town’s doctors surgery as a result of a shortage of doctors. Since September 1, the surgery at St Oswald’s has closed at 1pm on weekdays. Until then, it had been open until 6.30pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The surgery, a member of the Argyle Medical Group which also has practices in Pembroke Dock and Neyland, serves Pembroke, Monkton, and a number of outlying communities in the area. The surgery in Pembroke Dock will remain open from 8am – 6.30pm.

However, concerns have been raised about how the reduction of provision in Pembroke will affect elderly patients, or those with reduced mobility. Speaking to The Herald, Practice Manager for the Argyle Medical Group Juliet Goldsworthy confirmed that the reduction in surgery hours was a deirect result of staff shortages: “We’re two doctors down at the moment – its a common problem across Wales,” she said.

Safety was apparently a major consideration for the shorter opening hours. The practice was unwilling to let one doctor work at the surgery alone. “Its about managing the surgery safely andwe can’t do that at the moment,” Ms Goldsworthy added.

When we asked how long the staff shortage had been a problem for, she said that the staffing shortages were ‘relatively recent,’ though admitted that they had ‘struggled on’ over recent months. However, staff holiday time had meant that they were unable to keep the current provision. “The first doctor left about 18 months ago, and we lost another one 12 months ago,” she added.

“We have been advertising in national publications, but haven’t had any response. Accepting that the situation for patients was ‘far from ideal,’ she said that the problem was an all-Wales issue. Ms Goldsworthy confirmed that the practice had 10.75 FTE (full-time equivalent) doctors.

There are around 25,000 patients registered with the practice, which equates to 2325 patients per GP. Several years ago, the average number of patients per GP in Wales was 1640, and while Ms Goldsworthy said that this had risen to around 1900-2000, she still acknowledged that Argyle Street still did not meet these levels.

“Its not ideal – it puts a lot of pressure on both patients and doctors,” she added. Ms Goldsworthy pointed out that Argyle Street employed full-time nurse practitioners, who worked supporting GPs, as well as a full-time pharmacist who could ease the burden on doctors with work related to medication. “We were one of the first practices to take on a full-time pharmacist,”she added. “The health board seems to be looking more at approaches like this now. I understand that patients hanker for days gone by, but times have changed.”

With regards to the opening hours at St Oswalds, Ms Goldsworthy told us that if two new doctors could be recruited the situation would be reviewed after six months. At present, she said that the practice has been advertising ways for those unable to drive to attend the Argyle Street Surgery to travel there more cheaply.

“Services like country cars, and public transport can save people money on taxis,” she pointed out. Ms Goldsworthy emphasised that the surgery would still be open in mornings, and that hopefully people who would struggle to get to Pembroke Dock would be able to attend then. “We do visit a lot of people at home, if they are unable to get out. Our visiting rates are quite high,” she added. She pointed out that a shortage of GPs could lead to a continuing problem, because constant staff-shortages would lead to an increased workload, and the job becoming less attractive for medical trainees.

“There is talk of a ‘Golden Hello’ in Wales, but I’m not sure what is going to become of that,” she said. Concerningly, Ms Goldsworthy agreed with other commentators, including Simon Hart MP, who has previously said that a reduction in service provision at Withybush will lead to a knock-on effect on the county’s medical community.

“As Withybush downgrades and less doctors come to work there, their partners, who often used to work in surgeries won’t come here either, leading to the health community shrinking. We had a doctor who worked with us who was fantastic, but his wife worked in paediatric care, and when the department in Withybush downsized she had to move to Swansea to find work.

“There may also be issues with GP training at the hospital.” Speaking to The Herald, MP Simon Hart agreed that Issues faced by Withybush Hospital were a definite contributing factor in staffing problems across the medical community in the area: “From what I can discover there is a definite connection between recruitment and uncertainty over Withybush. For once the problem is not entirely about money,” he said.

“For the County to be able to attract Doctors and their families, they need to assure them that the services have a future and that there is certainty as far as their jobs are concerned. The Welsh Labour Government continues to fail in this regard and our county suffers accordingly.” We asked Hywel Dda University Health Board whether this was a fair reflection, and what if anything could be done to attract more GPs to the county.

At the time of going to press The Herald had received no reply. A spokesperson for Hywel Dda UHB said: “We would strongly urge caution when drawing ‘definite’ links between recruitment issues at a hospital and GP level as there is no absolute or clear evidence for this. GP recruitment is challenging across Wales, this is well documented, and we are experiencing this in areas across Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion as well as Pembrokeshire.

“Whilst we are taking clear actions to address recruitment at our hospitals, we have numerous responses to recruitment challenges at a GP level. For example, we are in the process of developing a Primary Care Support Team to offer support to Practices with workforce issues to which we have successfully appointed a GP clinical lead and three Advanced Practitioners, due to start shortly.

“We are also supporting the development of other roles that can provide patient care in General Practice working alongside GPs. For example, Argyle Surgery have employed a practice based pharmacist to support the GPs on a day to basis. This is alongside developing portfolio GP roles to increase the appeal of working in the Hywel Dda area to those wanting diversity within their role.”

Community

Officials announced for 2026 Eisteddfod in Pembrokeshire

Published

4 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THE NATIONAL EISTEDDFOD returns to Pembrokeshire in 2026, and organisers have named the officials who will steer this major cultural event over the next year and a half.

With the artistic and local committees already established, meetings to finalise competitions and adjudicators are underway to ensure the List of Competitions is ready by spring. Committee members have also been voting over the past weeks to elect key officials for the Executive Committee.

John Davies, former leader of Pembrokeshire County Council, has been appointed Chair of the Executive Committee. Known for his deep connection to Pembrokeshire and extensive experience with national organisations, Davies aims to make the Eisteddfod a true community event, welcoming involvement from all corners of the region.

Tegryn Jones, Chief Executive of Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, takes on the role of Deputy Chair (Strategy). With a strong passion for Welsh culture and language, Jones brings a wealth of experience working with local communities, visitors, and volunteers across three counties.

Deputy Chair (Culture) is Carys Ifan, Director of Canolfan Egin and a seasoned cultural organiser. Based in Llangrannog and originally from Llandudoch, Ifan has led numerous artistic and community projects across the region.

Cris Tomos, a community development veteran with over 30 years of experience, will lead the 2026 Eisteddfod Local Fund. Working with PLANED, a community development charity, Tomos has supported countless community enterprises and co-operatives in Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion, and Carmarthenshire.

Non Davies, recently elected as Executive Committee Secretary, brings extensive cultural management expertise as Ceredigion County Council’s Corporate Manager for Culture. Having chaired the Cardigan Local Fund Committee for the 2022 Ceredigion Eisteddfod, Davies is well-versed in managing cultural projects.

National Eisteddfod Chief Executive, Betsan Moses, said: “We’re looking forward to working with John and the team over the next few months as we prepare for the 2026 Eisteddfod.

“There’s almost a quarter of a century since the Eisteddfod was last held in Pembrokeshire, and we’re very much looking forward to returning to the area. 2026 is an important year for us as we celebrate 850 years since the first Eisteddfod was held in Cardigan Castle in 1176.

“We’re looking forward to working in a new way within a catchment area which includes parts of another two counties, which is, of course, a chance to work with local people in Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire again.”

Further announcements are expected in the coming weeks, including the sale of competition prizes and opportunities to donate the Crown and the Chair.

The National Eisteddfod will be held in Llantood from August 1–8, 2026.

News

Campaigners urge Welsh Government to adopt proportional representation for Local Elections

Published

5 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Tom Sinclair

CAMPAIGNERS are calling on the Welsh Government to introduce the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system for local elections, following moves by two councils to shift away from the First Past the Post (FPTP) system being blocked on technical grounds.

Yesterday (Nov 14), Ceredigion Council voted narrowly, with an 18 to 17 majority, in favor of adopting STV. This follows Gwynedd Council’s decision last month, where 65% of councillors backed the move. However, both councils have been prevented from implementing STV due to a requirement for a two-thirds majority under the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021.

In recent consultations, public support for STV has been overwhelming, with over 70% in Gwynedd and 67% in Ceredigion favoring the change. Only Powys Council rejected the proposal, despite 60.5% of its respondents supporting STV. Campaigners argue that the current system deprives voters of representation, citing that over 100,000 people were denied a vote in the 2022 elections due to uncontested seats.

The Electoral Reform Society Cymru (ERS Cymru) highlights the contrast with Scotland, where the introduction of STV for local elections in 2007 has significantly reduced uncontested seats. According to ERS Cymru, Scotland has had fewer uncontested seats in the last four elections combined than Gwynedd Council recorded alone in 2022.

Jess Blair, Director of ERS Cymru, said:

“Decisions made in council chambers affect everyone in those areas, so every vote should count. It’s absurd that councils choosing STV are blocked by a technicality, leaving them stuck with an outdated system that denies representation to thousands. The Welsh Government must act to avoid repeating the undemocratic outcomes of the last elections.”

Campaigners are now calling on the Welsh Government to introduce STV across all councils in Wales, ensuring representation that reflects the electorate’s wishes.

Business

Upgrades completed at Port of Milford Haven’s simulator suite

Published

5 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Tom Sinclair

UPGRADES have been completed to state-of-the-art equipment within the Port of Milford Haven’s navigation simulator suite at Milford Waterfront enabling marine professionals to receive bespoke specialist training. The virtual reality simulation system can safely replicate a range of scenarios that seafarers may experience in real world situations such as extreme weather conditions, emergency situations and escort tug work.

The upgrades provided by Netherlands-based company MARIN contain the latest hardware in terms of processing power and graphics, as well as upgrades to MARIN’s ‘Dolphin’ software, increasing the capability to create scenarios. These are complemented with new 4k visuals on 75” screens which increase the depth and field of vision, adding to the realism.

Recently, a training day was led by Training Pilot Captain Mark Johnson, assisted by ex-Pilot Andy Hillier, involving members of the Svitzer team as well as Pilots Matt Roberts and Ian Coombes. As part of the scenario, they were faced with a loss of engine power and steering along with worsening weather and sea conditions. The Pilots had to communicate with Svitzer in order to successfully instruct them on how to tow and direct a drifting tanker. While scenarios like these are uncommon within port operations, it is important to rehearse procedures that would be implemented if they are required and enhances participants’ skill sets.

Marine Pilot and Simulator Instructor, Captain Ewan McNicoll, said “This simulator suite has future proofed our training capabilities, both internally for Pilots and marine staff, but also externally for clients wishing to use the facility, be it for training purposes or research and development. We can create any type of scenario with any type of ship, ranging from practicing ship handling manoeuvres to emergency situations, it really is game changing! Working with our partners at MARIN has been a complete success and I am very proud of our new facility.”

For more information about training at the navigation simulation suite please contact the Port of Milford Haven at [email protected] or 01646 696100.