Health

Hywel Dda ‘misled public’ over consultation finding says campaign group

Published

2 years ago

July 6, 2022

Campaigners say that the Save Withybush campaign will now take a ‘march forward’ as evidence shows that Hywel Dda has misinterpreted the findings of its own consultation in 2018 and has misled the public over its data.

Following a full debate about the Save Withybush A&E petition in the Senedd last week, the petitions committee has requested further evidence from the camapign for their next meeting on monday July 11th.

A new campaign named ‘Our NHS – Born in Wales’ was recently launched by the People’s Assembly Wales and their volunteer researchers are supporting the Save Withybush campaign. The researchers have scrutinised the Health Board’s report on the 2018 consultation regarding proposed new hospital plans and believe that Hywel Dda has misled the public over its findings.

They have produced and submitted a further evidence paper to the Senedd petitions committee which they say shows “Hywel Dda have ignored the concerns of residents, ignored the data which showed an overwhelming rejection of the proposed new hospital plans and have ploughed ahead with changes. This is in spite of clear evidence which showed that the majority of people who would be most affected by the proposed changes were not in support of any of the proposed changes”.

New hospital sites to be reviewed by appraisal group

Campaigners added: “Our further evidence paper is a damning indictment of Hywel Dda’s actions to date. Not only have they misled the public over the findings of their 2018 consultation, they have completely ignored the concerns of thousands of residents and have bulldozed ahead with their proposals knowing full-well that they are acting against the wishes of a significant cross section of the public. We believe that it is now only a matter of time until the Health Board will be forced to go back, fully involve residents in addressing the concerns raised and engage properly in co-production as they are duty bound to do under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.

They did not ask the right questions in their consultation, and the questions they did ask were heavily weighted in order to steer the data towards their preferred outcomes. This was not co-production and the Health Board now have no other option but to go back and ask different questions in a completely different way, based on the data they have recorded so far.”

“As campaigners we believe that the Health Board is now fully exposed on this issue and we will be pursuing this through every avenue with our latest findings marking a “turning of the tide” for the campaign. Pointing out that the Withybush issue is now under much greater scrutiny at Welsh Government level following the debate.

“The Health Board often cites ‘recruitment issues’ as one of the reasons for their proposed changes and removal of services at Withybush. However our argument, as evidenced in our paper, is that given the level of uncertainty that has surrounded health services within the hospital for so long, the Health Board has actually created the very recruitment issues which they are using to justify changes. This was cited in their own 2018 report ‘our Big NHS changes’ where staff focus groups actually said:

‘people won’t come to work here because there has been so much uncertainty around the hospital over recent years’ (p.10)

They have essentially run down the hospital and are now trying to use that as an excuse to remove the A&E”

“This has become a ‘war of attrition’ over Withybush, in which the Health Board has demoralised the public, wearing them down over time by pressing ahead with changes whilst ignoring our concerns. It’s understandable that some Pembrokeshire residents, including County Councillors have given up hope for Withybush. However, as a campaign and armed with new evidence, we feel that we can finally put the health board on notice. This is far from over or a ‘done deal’ as they repeatedly assert. Notably, in her speech in the Senedd last week Eluned Morgan used the word ‘if’ several times in regards to a new hospital. This shows that the Welsh Government may already be positioning itself to abandon these dangerous plans if we keep up the pressure as a campaign and as a county.

With model motions in support of the Save Withybush campaign going to Town & Community Councils, trade union branches as well as a motion going through County Council, we believe we can reinvigorate people’s hope for the survival of Withybush and inject fresh impetus for action to save our hospital. But we re-issue our call for action to everyone to step up and save the hospital.

With this week marking the 74th birthday of the NHS we encourage all in Pembrokeshire and beyond to demand decent, safe, and localised services, and importantly, to demand services which are provided based on health need, as was intended when the NHS was founded back in 1948.

Health

10-mile trek raises £1,000 for stroke unit

Published

4 days ago

July 23, 2024

Tom Sinclair

A TEAM of 18 from CARA Wales took on a 10-mile trek and raised £1,000 for the Stroke Ward at Withybush Hospital.

The team from CARA Wales, an agricultural and rural consultancy and advice organisation, walked across the Preseli Mountains from Foel Drygan to Foel Eryr on 17th June 2023.

Mererid Sandbrook, who works for CARA Wales, said: “The walk started in Crymych and continued along the Golden Road up to Foel Eryr, the highest point of Preseli Mountain. It was a really enjoyable day.

“We were all really pleased to have raised such a great amount of money. We would like to thank everyone who donated money towards our challenge.”

They also raised £1,000 for Stroke Association.

Nicola Llewelyn, Head of Hywel Dda Health Charities, the official charity of Hywel Dda University Health Board, said: “We’d like to say a big thank you to CARA Wales for taking on the 10-mile trek in aid of the Stroke Ward.

“The support of our local communities enables us to provide services over and above what the NHS can provide in the three counties of Hywel Dda and we are extremely grateful for every donation we receive.”

Your donations are making a positive difference to the health, wellbeing and experience of NHS patients, service users and staff. For more details about the charity and how you can help support local NHS patients and staff, go to www.hywelddahealthcharities.org.uk

Health

Hywel Dda to engage on Tregaron Community Hospital beds

Published

5 days ago

July 22, 2024

Tom Sinclair

HYWEL DDA University Health Board is inviting members of the public to share their views about the potential of decommissioning the nine beds currently at Tregaron Community Hospital.

The proposal for a new model of care, which is part of the broader Cylch Caron project, will see the move of care from the hospital to people’s own homes enabled through a different model of support. This can only be achieved by staff working in different ways, focused on keeping people well at home, and with more available to help people in the community.

Peter Skitt, County Director Ceredigion at Hywel Dda University Health Board explains: “Members of our local community will be familiar with our vision, which includes the development of the Cylch Caron model of care that includes an integrated resource centre.”

Dr Sion James, Deputy Medical Director Primary Care and local GP for Tregaron, adds: “Tregaron Hospital has been a part of our local community for a number of years, and we need to provide our community with a range of services that meets their current and future needs.

“The Centre is an exciting and unique project that aims to offer many opportunities and benefits for people in the area. This will bring together a range of services in a central hub for the Tregaron and surrounding rural areas. The project will create an innovative rural model of community-based care to meet care, health and housing need in the area, which is fit for today and sustainable for tomorrow.”

The Cylch Caron scheme is being developed in partnership between Ceredigion County Council, Hywel Dda University Health Board and the Welsh Government. It will consist of a GP surgery, community pharmacy, outpatient clinics and community nursing and social care facilities, as well as extra care flats and integrated health and social care units.

Ceredigion County Council recently announced that they are inviting companies to tender for the design and build of the new fully-integrated health, social care and housing centre.

Peter adds: “While we develop our Cylch Caron scheme, we also need to consider our current model of care for patients at Tregaron Hospital. Despite efforts to recruit to positions, our current level of staffing is insufficient, and our staffing rotas are fragile. Our staff have voiced how challenging it is to support our patients through our current model of care at Tregaron Hospital. Our proposal is to move our staff from being hospital based and looking after the nine beds, to being community based. This will enable us to support more patients in their homes.

The Cylch Caron model of care is focused on providing more community nursing and enhanced care in people’s own homes. This would be achieved through outreach nursing and increased provision of same day urgent care. Outpatient appointments will continue to be provided from Tregaron Hospital and the building will serve as a hub for our staff until the new Cylch Caron Integrated Resource Centre is built.

Peter continues: “We know that being close to home, or in their home, is important for our patients. We want to increase the opportunity for people in Ceredigion to be able to stay well for longer, with the support of enhanced staffing in their own homes.

“At the moment, the patients in our care at Tregaron hospital live more than ten miles away from the hospital, and most are medically fit. And this has been common for a long time. Our proposal to move our staff to focus on advanced care in people’s homes provides a different way of supporting our patients. It will enable us to deliver our community care model quicker and support more people in our communities.

“Patients have consistently shared that they would prefer to be at home, or closer to home, and this tends to enable their recovery. We will work with our patients and their families, and our broader community, to understand their views during the planned period of engagement.”

The proposal to decommission the nine beds and the engagement period will be discussed at the Board meeting held on 25 July. The four-week period of engagement will launch on 1 August and run until 29 August 2024. Individuals will be able to attend online and in-person events and be able to share their views through the Health Board’s Have Your Say portal. Feedback from the engagement will be presented to the September meeting of the Health Board.

Further information on the events and how individuals can share their views will be shared at the end of July.

Health

Equipment and games for Glangwili children’s ward thanks to donations

Published

5 days ago

July 22, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THANKS to donations, Hywel Dda Health Charities, the official charity of Hywel Dda University Health Board, has been able to provide equipment and games worth over £300 to Cilgerran Ward at Glangwili Hospital.

The NHS charity funded TV brackets, universal remotes, Nintendo Switch cases and Nintendo games including FIFA, Chocobo and Minecraft Dungeons.

Karen Thomas, Head of Therapeutic Play, said: “We are so grateful that charitable funds have allowed us to purchase more items for Cilgerran Ward.

“The new items will help the therapeutic play team work more effectively and focus their time on the children and young people in our care.

“Being able to play while in hospital means the children and young people can continue an aspect of their normal life. Arts and crafts help as they go through treatments and procedures in hospital, minimising the effects of isolation, stress and anxiety.

“The items will help make the ward and all the areas the children attend more friendly and promote wellbeing for all.”

Nicola Llewelyn, Head of Hywel Dda Health Charities, the official charity of Hywel Dda University Health Board, said: “The support of our local communities enables us to provide services over and above what the NHS can provide in the three counties of Hywel Dda and we are extremely grateful for every donation we receive.”

For more details about the charity and how you can help support local NHS patients and staff, go to www.hywelddahealthcharities.org.uk