Family says 51-year-old brother is “wasting away” as Welsh NHS delays leave them “abandoned”

SAMUEL KURTZ MS has vowed to raise “as a matter of urgency” the case of a Pembroke family who say they have been left in despair after a severely disabled man spent two years waiting for essential dental treatment.

The constituency MS said his office has been in contact with the family since the end of last week, and that the situation will be raised at the earliest opportunity with both the Welsh Government and Hywel Dda University Health Board.

His intervention follows an emotional public post shared by the patient’s sister, who said her 51-year-old brother, Alfie Probert, has been in constant pain for two years while waiting for specialist dental care. Alfie, who cannot speak and relies entirely on his mother, has rapidly deteriorated as he struggles to eat.

According to the family, Alfie weighed around sixteen stone before the pain began. He has since “wasted away,” with his sister describing watching him decline as “heartbreaking.” She said their mother, who is eighty and living with her own health issues, has been left caring for him round the clock while the wait for treatment drags on.

In a message that has struck a nerve across Pembrokeshire, she said the situation had moved beyond the usual discussion of waiting lists. “This isn’t just a backlog,” she wrote. “This is cruelty. This is negligence. This is destroying people’s lives.”

She accused the system of abandoning vulnerable people and said the lack of action had left the family exhausted and desperate for help.

Mr Kurtz acknowledged the volume of messages from concerned residents and said he would be pressing the health board and ministers for answers as to how such a delay could be allowed to happen.

A spokesperson for Hywel Dda UHB has been approached for comment.

THE PEMBROKESHIRE HERALD has today confirmed that its Editor, Tom Sinclair, has served a £50,000 defamation claim on Neyland Town Council following a series of false and damaging statements issued by the Council and its Clerk.

The legal action centres on an official post published by Neyland Town Council on its Facebook page in October, in which the Herald’s reporting was described as “targeted”, “bullying”, and “relentless”. These accusations were presented as fact, published without evidence, and issued without giving the newspaper any right of reply.

In the weeks that followed, serious defamatory abuse was allowed to remain visible beneath the Council’s post, including a comment labelling the editor a “nonce”. That comment remained public for around eight weeks before being removed. The Town Clerk later escalated matters further by posting an abusive public message directed at Mr Sinclair personally, using obscene language.

Mr Sinclair said: “Our reporting has been fair, accurate and entirely justified. When a public authority uses its official platform to publish untrue personal attacks about a journalist, it crosses a line. This is not about disagreement with a story – it is about a council making baseless allegations that undermine press freedom and damage trust in local democracy.”

He added: “No journalist should be publicly slurred by a public body for doing their job. Allowing defamatory abuse to remain online for weeks, and then adding further hostile comments, has caused serious harm to my reputation and encouraged harassment.”

The claim seeks damages, the removal of the offending material, a public apology, and written undertakings to prevent a repeat of the allegations.

Mr Sinclair said the purpose of the action is to “draw a clear line under this behaviour” and ensure that no other journalist is subjected to similar treatment by those in public office.

“The Herald will always hold public bodies to account,” he said. “But accountability runs both ways.”

NATURAL Resources Wales (NRW) has updated a flood alert for the Pembrokeshire coast, warning that flooding is possible between St Dogmaels, Cardigan and Amroth over the next two days.

The alert, which covers the stretch of coast from St Dogmaels down to Amroth, was first issued on Friday (Dec 5) and was updated around midday today (Sunday, Dec 7). NRW says the risk comes from a combination of high tides, large waves and unsettled weather, with the greatest impacts currently expected around Tuesday’s tides.

Flooding of low-lying land and roads is expected around the time of each high tide on Monday (Dec 8) and Tuesday (Dec 9). A further spell of wet and windy weather is also expected to keep river and surface water levels high across parts of south-west Wales.

Residents in coastal communities and estuary areas are being urged to be prepared and to take some simple precautions. NRW’s advice includes:

What people are being urged to do

• Follow your household flood plan if you already have one.
• Check where your loved ones and pets are, and think about how you would move them to safety if water starts to rise.
• Move sentimental items, important documents and valuables to higher shelves or upstairs where possible.
• Keep your mobile phone charged and switched on so you can receive warnings and updates.
• Make sure you know how to turn off your electricity, gas and water supplies.
• Pack a small grab-bag in case you need to leave home in a hurry – including medication, phone and charger, warm clothing, baby and pet supplies, sanitary products and insurance documents.
• Consider moving cars, livestock and equipment away from low-lying or exposed areas that are likely to flood.

What not to do:

Officials are again stressing that people should not drive or walk through floodwater. Just 30 centimetres (around one foot) of fast-moving water can move a car, and as little as 15 centimetres can knock an adult off their feet.

• For the latest official information on this alert, residents can visit the NRW flood warning page for the Pembrokeshire coast (area code 102WABT02), or call Floodline on 0345 988 1188 and use quick dial number 503013.
  

Up-to-date river, rainfall and sea level data is also available via the ‘river, rainfall and sea data’ pages on the Natural Resources Wales website.