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Health

Local health board promises speedy delivery of Covid-19 booster shots

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FOLLOWING last week’s announcement by the JCVI, Hywel Dda University Health Board’s mass vaccination team says it is working at pace to ensure its current facilities are used to their maximum capacity. The health board is confident that everyone eligible for a booster will receive an offer by the end of January 2022.

The health board has promised that it will continue to prioritise people living in Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire for their booster appointment against the time scale since their primary course was completed, which in turn, was driven by age and vulnerability.

The Health Board said: “We would like to take this opportunity to thank the public for their patience and for attending their appointment when it is their turn.

“People attending their appointment are also now asked to show their support and kindness towards the hard-working staff, security and volunteers, who will be spending a second festive period helping to keep Wales safe.”

Bethan Lewis, Interim Assistant Director of Public Health at Hywel Dda UHB, told The Herald: “Following last week’s significant update to booster eligibility, our efforts have been focused on achieving this incredibly ambitious programme by increasing the number of appointments across our seven mass vaccination centres and recruiting extra staff and volunteers.

“Our communities across Hywel Dda have a big role to play in helping us offer a booster vaccine to everyone aged 18 and over and our most clinically vulnerable by the end of January.

“First, please be patient and do not attend any of our centres without an appointment. Our call centre is also receiving lots of calls and this is causing delays in answering, so we strongly advise that you do not contact the health board or your GP to ask about your vaccine.

“Our priority is to increase the number of appointments available and we will contact you when it is your turn. This will be done by letter, or text, and it may be at short notice.

“We understand people have commitments, especially at this time of year, but we must ask people to prioritise their appointment as far as possible. Due to the high volume of people we are currently vaccinating, if you have to cancel your appointment, or change the date, it may be some weeks before it can be re-scheduled.

“The vast majority of the population are currently receiving their booster appointment on or before 26 weeks since their second dose. As more appointments are made available across our seven centres, this gap will reduce significantly. Please bear with us.

“You can also help by arriving for your appointment on time and no earlier than 10 minutes before your allotted time. This will help keep our car parks flowing and limit the length of queues. We apologise if there are delays, but please be patient and dress for colder weather in case you are asked to wait outside.”

The health board understands that many people have been anxiously contacting our COVID-19 Command Centre to ask questions or to rearrange an existing appointment, which has resulting in long waits to speak to someone.

The health board is increasing the number of call and email handlers but if you have any questions about the COVID-19 vaccine, please visit https://hduhb.nhs.wales/covid19-vaccination in the first instance to find the answer to your query or visit Public Health Wales’s website https://phw.nhs.wales/topics/immunisation-and-vaccines/

Again, we ask people to not contact us to ask about their booster vaccine, however it is very important that we leave no one behind. In light of yesterday’s ministerial announcement, if you are over 65 and haven’t yet had a booster appointment, or if it has been more than 26 weeks since your second dose and you have not received an appointment, please get in touch with the health board directly.

The health board is also prioritising those who are still need their first and second vaccines. Everyone aged 12 and over is eligible for a COVID-19 vaccination and no one will be left behind.

Please visit https://hduhb.nhs.wales/covid19-vaccination to request your vaccine or if you cannot request one online, please call 0300 303 8322.

If you would like to work at a mass vaccination centre, the health board has full and part time hours available as well as bank opportunities. Please visit https://hduhb.nhs.wales/jobs/ to apply.

For volunteering opportunities please visit contact the health board’s volunteering team via [email protected] or by calling 01267 244 401.

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Health

Chairman opens new NHS 111 Wales Service Centre in Haverfordwest

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IN a ceremonial occasion on Thursday (May 2), Thomas Baden Tudor, Chairman of Pembrokeshire County Council, inaugurated the new NHS 111 Wales service centre at Haverfordwest Ambulance Station. The event was marked by Mr. Tudor cutting the red ribbon, a task he was honoured to perform at the behest of Matthew Jones, Locality Manager of the Pembrokeshire Ambulance Service.

The NHS 111 service, which is accessible round the clock, offers urgent health advice and information about available services, including dental care and general medical guidance. This vital resource also provides support on managing illnesses and conditions and ensures continuity of care when GP offices are closed.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Tudor expressed his pride and privilege in participating in the launch, which underscores the community’s commitment to enhancing healthcare accessibility. The new service centre is expected to play a pivotal role in providing prompt medical advice and support to the residents of Pembrokeshire.

The service is free and can be reached by dialling 111 from any phone, ensuring essential healthcare advice is just a call away.

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Health

Junior doctors secure strike extension in pay negotiations with WG

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BMA Cymru Wales has confirmed a positive development in its pay negotiations announcing that Junior doctors have secured a three-month extension to their overwhelming strike mandate.

This means that junior doctors in Wales now have the right to enact industrial action over their pay until 17 September 2024 instead of 17 June when the mandate was due to run out.

Recognising the strength of feeling amongst junior doctors and the overwhelming 98% vote by members in favour of industrial action back in December 2023, employers have agreed to honour this extension to allow talks with the Welsh Government to continue.

Co-chairs of the Welsh Junior Doctor Committee Dr Oba Babs-Osibodu and Dr Peter Fahey said of this development:

“We are pleased to be able to secure an extension to our overwhelming strike mandate. Whilst we hope to put an end to our pay dispute through pay negotiations by reaching a credible deal and restoring our pay, it was important to secure more time for our mandate.

“The extension allows us to focus on talks but also provides us with the scope to get organised and enact our legal right to strike should we need to. This is about honouring the emphatic mandate of our members.

“Doctors have experienced real terms pay cut of almost a third since 2008. They voted overwhelmingly to put an end to the devaluing of their service, they know they are not worth a third less than their predecessors and they know the time is now to stick up for the profession and turn the tide of the continued erosion of their pay once and for all”.

The Welsh Government and NHS employers have agreed to the extension as part of ongoing pay negotiations where all parties hope to reach an end to the pay dispute with junior doctors, SAS doctors and Consultants in Wales.

Last month, BMA Cymru Wales announced it was suspending forthcoming industrial action for Consultants and SAS doctors and putting plans on hold to announce more strike dates for junior doctors to allow pay negotiations to take place*.

The decision to enter pay negotiations was based on a significant proposal from the Welsh Government to form the basis of talks to end the pay disputes with all secondary care doctors including Consultants, SAS, and Junior doctors, with the aim of reaching deals which can be taken separately to their respective members.

In August last year, the BMA’s committees representing secondary care doctors in Wales voted to enter separate trade disputes with the Welsh Government after being offered another below inflation pay uplift of just 5% for the 23/24 financial year. SAS doctors on some contracts were offered as little as 1.5%. This was the lowest pay offer any government in the UK offered and less than the DDRB, the pay review body for doctors and dentists, recommended last year.

As part of their disputes, SAS doctors, consultants and junior doctors carried out successful ballots for industrial action. Since then, junior doctors have taken part in 10 days of industrial action since January this year.

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Community

Plea to save at-risk Anchorage day care centre

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AN ONLINE plea to save a Pembrokeshire day centre from being closed has been lodged with the county council.

The Anchorage Day Care Centre in Pembroke Dock has been a “safe and happy place” for adults with learning difficulties and additional needs for decades.

In more recent years it has expanded to support elderly dementia sufferers.

But now the centre is expected to close, with services instead being offered elsewhere in the county, including Haverfordwest and Milford Haven.

A series of engagement events have taken place at The Anchorage recently, outlining the reasons and the options in continued service.

One parent, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “The parents and carers are all very upset at the way we have been treated, kept in the dark and then presented with what is a fait accompli to close the Anchorage, while at the same time going through the motions of a ‘consultation’ with us.

“The clients at The Anchorage have friendships with each other and staff going back decades in some cases.

“One young woman who attends ran out of the first meeting sobbing when she was told it was going to close. Another, at the second meeting, tried to address the meeting but was so chocked up at the thought of not seeing her friends anymore she could hardly speak.”

She added: “The Anchorage has been a respite in the day for parents and a safe, happy place for the clients.

“Everyone feels that the county council is not considering the feelings of the clients, most of whom are upset and frightened by change to their routine.”

Another person raising concerns said: “The centre is set to close as early as next month – meaning the sudden retraction of a service which, for many families in the area, is nothing short of a lifeline.

“I’m not sure PCC understand the gravity of the impact that closing the centre will have on the lives of many people, particularly the customers, some of whom may not understand or cope well with such a total upheaval of the familiarity of their daily routine.

“It’s so upsetting that the people who will be most affected by the closure of the centre are as much a part of the Pembrokeshire community as anybody else that the council claims to represent, and yet in this decision, I feel they’re not being seen as such.”

Since then, an online e-petition, on the council’s own website has been launched calling for it to stay open.

It says: “The centre provides day-care support to a number of vulnerable adults with varying levels of disability who are unable to process, and understand, the implications of such a decision.

“Some of those attending the centre have been doing so for over 20 years and continuity is a vital part of their lives. Removing this service will have nothing other than a huge detrimental impact on their health and mental wellbeing.”

The petition has attracted 284 signatures to date.

A Pembrokeshire County Council spokesman said: “Following the engagement sessions held with families and service users regarding the future of the centre on April 10 and 17 at the Anchorage, families said that they would like to maintain the Anchorage Day Centre and explained that they would write to the council in order to ask for the decision to be overturned.

“People who attend the service will be offered alternative care, all service users are currently having their individual care needs assessed by social work teams to fully understand which other services best meet those care needs.”

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