News

Baby unit closes – Carmarthen ‘cannot cope’

Published

12 years ago

September 2, 2014

Tom Sinclair

Twins: Mum Bianca with her newborns

WITHYBUSH baby unit has been closed for less than a week, despite a long campaign to save the essential service that the Welsh Government deemed unnecessary for Pembrokeshire.

Already Carmarthen’s Glangwili Hospital has proved it is unable to cope with its new responsibilities as a Pembrokeshire baby is diverted from there to Swansea’s hospital, adding significant and potentially life threatening time on to the wait for specialist care. The baby unit, which closed on August 4, has been a stalwart of essential services for our county since the late seventies. There are many stories of lives it has saved over the years, history that has now come to an end.

The Herald has learnt that already the new history being written by the diversion of this service to Glangwili has begun with a story that could have ended in tragedy. Speaking about an alarming incident this week was parent Martin McGeown: “We went to Withybush on Friday, August 1 for a scan. We were told that one of the twins, the boy, had a problem as his blood flow from the placenta was reduced. We then saw a doctor in Withybush who said we had to go to another hospital to be monitored which should have been Carmarthen, which wasn’t ready.

The closest hospital with a bed was Singleton Hospital in Swansea, but they had no cots, so the nearest hospital then was in Bridgend. I asked if Withybush would take us by ambulance but we were told no, we would have to take her by car. “Whilst it was not an emergency, because she wasn’t actually in labour, they wouldn’t take her by ambulance. We got to Bridgend two and a half hours later. On the maternity ward she had to be monitored 2-3 times a day. I begged the midwives in Bridgend to please transfer my wife Bianca to Swansea.

“They were excellent in Bridgend and they could all see how upset we were, so the midwife begged Singleton on behalf of me to take us in. She got us a bed because someone had left, and purely by chance as the hospital was full. I had to sign my wife out of hospital in order to get to Swansea which was at 12 o’clock at night. She had a C-section on Tuesday, August 5.” He went on to describe how he felt about what had happened and the implication this had for future births in Pembrokeshire: “A Pembrokeshire family is now distraught over what happened to them.

How are people supposed to get to Carmarthen? We were even told that if Bridgend was closed to us, and a bed wasn’t available, we would have to go to Birmingham hospital! It is unbelievable. My son will be in intensive care for another two weeks”. Bianca McGeown added to her husband’s concerns, stating: “The problem was that the twins could have been split up as a result of all this travelling to and from different hospitals. It was a real shock as we expected Carmarthen to be up and running.

Who wants to be driving up and down the motorway panicking, about where they are delivering a baby that will need help. What if someone didn’t have a car – how would they get there? Especially with no ambulance provision, even though I needed a C-section as it turned out”. She finished by commenting on the baby unit’s closure in Withybush: “It’s a shambles and it’s also really sad. In Pembrokeshire we are cut off: what about in the winter in bad weather and getting to Carmarthenshire safely? For people who are in labour, and not straight forward labour, I dread to think what could happen.”

Community

PCSO clocks in after villagers raise speeding fears

Published

17 minutes ago

April 9, 2026

Tom Sinclair

HERBRANDSTON residents flagged fast-moving traffic as a key concern, prompting police to carry out speed checks in the village.

Concern over speeding in Herbrandston has prompted a local police response, with PCSO Adam out in the village carrying out speed checks after residents raised the issue through DPP Connect.

Milford Haven and Neyland Police said the concerns emerged after officers signed local people up to the messaging service, which allows residents to share feedback and receive updates from police.

Many of those who responded said speeding through the village was one of their main worries.

In response, PCSO Adam was deployed to monitor traffic and check vehicle speeds.

The move is likely to be welcomed by residents who have grown tired of motorists treating the village like a racetrack.

Community

Walk the Path for Wellbeing to span three counties in 2026

Published

17 hours ago

April 8, 2026

Tom Sinclair

THE PEMBROKESHIRE COAST NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY is inviting communities, workplaces, families and friends to take part in the 2026 Walk the Path for Wellbeing challenge, with this year’s event expanding across three counties for the first time.

Taking place on Sunday, May 10 and Monday, May 11, the challenge will bring people together to celebrate the spectacular West Wales coastline through walking and other forms of active travel, while highlighting the strong links between nature, movement and wellbeing. A reserve weekend of May 17 and 18 has also been set aside in the event of severe weather.

Building on feedback from last year, the event will now take place over two days rather than one, giving more people the opportunity to get involved and creating a longer window for celebration, storytelling and community spirit.

While last year’s challenge focused on the 186-mile Pembrokeshire Coast, this year’s event will also include sections of Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion, bringing even more communities into the shared coastal celebration.

The two-day event will feature self-led sections for group entry. With the focus firmly on enjoyment, there is no pressure to complete every stage, and participants are encouraged to do only as much as they feel comfortable with. Together, those individual efforts will contribute to a shared goal of covering the full 313 miles of coastline.

Angela Robinson, Health and Wellbeing Officer at the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, said: “The coast has an extraordinary ability to lift people, connect communities and create lasting memories. By extending the event across two days and into neighbouring counties, we’re opening the door to even more people to celebrate that connection together and share their experiences on social media.”

Health

Nursing graduate jobs crisis warning as NHS pressures deepen

Published

17 hours ago

April 8, 2026

Tom Sinclair

THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF NURSING WALES has warned of a growing jobs crisis for newly qualified nurses, saying a shortage of Band 5 posts could leave up to half of this year’s nursing graduates without work when recruitment opens.

The union said the situation was particularly alarming given the severe pressures already facing NHS Wales, with staff continuing to report overcrowded wards, unsafe conditions and unmanageable workloads across multiple health boards.

RCN Wales said the lack of available jobs for newly trained nurses pointed to a serious failure in workforce planning. It warned that losing new entrants to the profession would place even more strain on already overstretched services and could further affect patient care.

The organisation said the situation also undermined the Welsh Government’s and NHS Wales’ duty to improve the quality and safety of care.

RCN Wales is calling on the Welsh Government to provide urgent clarity on the scale of the shortfall, set out credible long-term workforce planning, and introduce immediate system-wide measures to recruit, retain and deploy the nursing workforce Wales needs.

The union said it had received assurances that students would not be penalised if posts were unavailable. That includes being released from any obligation to work in Wales and not being required to repay tuition fee support where workforce shortages prevent them from securing employment.

Professor Sandy Harding, Associate Director of Nursing at RCN Wales, said: “The situation facing newly registered nurses is deeply concerning and exposes serious failures in workforce planning.

“It is becoming increasingly clear that this situation is being driven by financial constraints, including the freezing of vacant posts within local health boards. Our NHS is under intense pressure, yet hundreds of newly qualified nurses may have no posts to enter. This is simply unacceptable.

“These students stepped forward for Wales, trained through immense challenges, and now face uncertainty at the very moment the system needs them most. They deserve far better.

“Every newly qualified nurse will be vital to meeting Wales’s care needs. The RCN will continue to demand transparency, accountability and long-term planning from the system. We will not stop speaking up for students, for our safety-critical nursing workforce, and for the people who rely on safe, high-quality care.”