PEOPLE from communities across the three counties have helped assess five sites in Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, as part of a wider process to identify a location for a new Planned and Urgent Care Hospital.

Attendees at the workshop, on Tuesday 28 June, were drawn from across the region, including participants with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, as well as health board staff and partners. Attendees reviewed each of the sites, before scoring them based on an agreed set of technical criteria.

Further information about the technical criteria, and how they were ‘weighted’ to determine the allocation of scores, can be found here. Transport and accessibility to services at the hospital was identified as the highest weighted criteria.

All the sites below are in a zone between and including St Clears and Narberth. This zone, which was agreed following our consultation in 2018, is the most central location for the majority of the population in the south of the Hywel Dda area.

The health board is committed to the principle that the public voice in this scoring exercise would be no less than 52% of the total. Therefore, the Consultation Institute has increased the relative proportion of the public score accordingly. The scoring of the sites following the technical land appraisal workshop are as follows:

Site

Score

Agricultural land and buildings forming part of Kiln Park Farm which is located to the north of Narberth train station and adjacent to the A478, approximately 1km to the north-east of Narberth town centre

365

Agricultural land located to the north-east of Whitland town centre and situated between the A40 to the north, Whitland Rugby Club to the east and Spring Gardens to the south

373

Agricultural land and buildings forming part of Ty Newydd Farm which is located to the east of the Old Whitland Creamery site and Whitland town centre.

365

Agricultural land and buildings forming part of Penllyne Court located between Whitland and St Clears just outside Pwll-Trap.The site lies between the Swansea-Haverfordwest railway line to the north and the A40 to the south

334

Agricultural land at old Bryncaerau fields, located adjacent to the junction of the A40 and A477 in St Clears, between the A4066 (Tenby Road) to the south, the village of Pwll Trap to the north and the A40 to the west

372

The establishment of a new hospital is a fundamental part of the health board’s wider plans, which also include providing more community integrated care centres and services closer to people’s homes.

The benefits of the new hospital, which would bring together the Accident and Emergency Departments and acute medical care from Withybush and Glangwili hospitals, would include:

the ability to physically separate urgent and planned care so one has less of an impact on the other, which should give better waiting times for people already waiting too long for planned care
a more resilient response from clinical teams at the front door, as teams will be brought together, releasing ambulances back onto the roads and meaning people get quicker access to the decision making needed to allow them to go home, or be admitted to hospital if needed
more attractive medical staffing rotas, bringing larger teams of clinicians together and providing more opportunity and strength to our discussions around bringing more specialities into west Wales
more attractive rotas to support staff well-being and retention and act as an attractor for new staff

Lee Davies, Executive Director of Strategic Development & Operational Planning at Hywel Dda UHB, said: “I would like to thank all participants for their involvement and contribution in helping us to consider the sites for our new urgent and planned care hospital. The comments and questions received during the workshop were direct, honest, and challenging and highlighted the passion that exists in our communities for high quality health care. We believe this type of engagement is vital to ensuring we reach the best decision for the future location of the new hospital.
“The output from this workshop does not necessarily mean the new hospital will be located at the site with the highest score. This appraisal group is one of four, with the others reviewing matters covering clinical, workforce, and economic / financial issues.

“The reports for each of these appraisal groups will be considered by Hywel Dda’s Board in August. By following this thorough process and engaging with the public, the Board will be able to fully understand the evidence to decide on the best way forward, to meet the clinical, health and care demands for our future generations, and deliver the ambitions of the Healthier Mid and West Wales strategy and secure a scale of investment never before seen in west Wales.”

The land technical appraisal workshop and engagement process were managed with support and advice from The Consultation Institute, a not-for-profit, independent body, which provide guidance on best practice for engaging with communities.