THANKS to generous donations, Hywel Dda Health Charities – the official charity of Hywel Dda Health Board – has funded 10 ambulatory heart monitors worth over £13,000 for Withybush Hospital’s Cardio-Respiratory Department.

The monitors are compact devices which are used to assess a patient’s heart rate and rhythm for a sustained amount of time.

The state-of-the-art monitors will help the Cardio-Respiratory Department provide the best possible service, with accurate, efficient and timely arrhythmia recognition provided on site or at home.

Rhys Bowen, Advanced Cardiac Physiologist, said: “We are so grateful that charitable donations from the local community have enabled us to buy the new monitors.

“The monitors are more adaptable to each patient’s presenting symptoms which will enhance the quality of the data gathered.

“They are more patient-friendly and easier to wear for the duration of the test, so there will be less need for repeat monitoring. They will also support quicker in-patient discharge due to an increase in the number of available monitors and the fact they can be worn by the patient at home and provide remote monitoring.”

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, visit here.

CURRENT forecasts are for high pollen counts from today until Sunday across Wales, and airborne allergens expert has said. Max Wiseberg added: “This is not good news for hay fever sufferers across Wales. The main culprit is oak pollen which is now in peak season and there are some early grass pollens.”

Max continues, “However, better news is that, whilst there is no cure for hay fever, there are many measures and precautions you can take to help reduce the effects of the pollen. Although many hay fever sufferers find that nothing really works or that some remedies help, but nothing does the whole job, or what worked last year doesn’t work today, there is another way. A novel approach is to combine products for greater effect, and create your own ‘Hay Fever First Aid Kit’.”

“So if nothing works on its own, or your symptoms are particularly severe on a given day, create your own Hay Fever First Aid Kit, in other words use a combination of products, which can be complementary to one another. I suggest that your ideal Hay Fever First Aid Kit will consist of a prevention, such as HayMax organic drug-free allergen barrier balm, one (and only one) antihistamine, one (and only one) nasal spray, eye drops and one or more other natural products,”

Max goes on to explain how all the elements of a Hay Fever First Aid Kit work:

“The first thing is to avoid the pollen in the first place with an organic allergen barrier balm such as HayMax applied around the nostrils and bones of the eyes to help stop pollen getting in.”

“There are several forms of medication you can take that seek to reduce the effects of the pollen on the body.

• Try an antihistamine, to counteract the effects of too many histamines, the body’s reaction to too much pollen; the most common are acrivastine, cetirizine, chlorphenamine, desloratadine, fexofenadine and loratadine.
• Use a steroid nasal spray, which works by fighting inflammation and mucus production, helping clear nasal symptoms – itching, sneezing, watering and congestion.
• Eye drops work in one of three ways; some stop the histamine release, some are anti-inflammatory and others block the inflammation caused by histamine.
• There are several types of each, so if one doesn’t work particularly well or stops working, it’s worth trying another.”

“There are many other drug-free and natural products available for hay fever sufferers.

• Quercetin is thought to limit the release of histamine; found naturally in many foods, it can also be taken in a capsule.
• Butterbur is a herbal extract believed to have an antihistamine-like effect on hay fever symptoms and is available in capsules.
• Immune boosting wellness formulae, such as Bee Prepared Daily Defence Immune Support which contains only all natural ingredients that help support the immune system, help the body fight the effects of the pollen.”

A PLEA to keep Pembroke Dock’s Anchorage Day Centre open is to be heard at a full meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council next week.

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: “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 choked up at the thought of not seeing her friends anymore she could hardly speak.”

In a submitted question to be heard at the May 9 meeting, member of the public Peter Welsh will ask: “Is the council aware of the huge impact the impending closure of the Anchorage Adult Day-care Centre in Pembroke Dock is already having to the health and mental wellbeing of my daughter and 20 other vulnerable adults with special needs and learning difficulties, who are unable to cope with changes to routine, or to process and understand what is happening to them?

“And would the council, therefore, please review its closure decision and retain the centre and the vital and invaluable service it provides not only to the individuals concerned but also to the parents?

“If not, what specific measures does the cabinet member have in place to support my daughter and these other individuals who need extra assistance to enable them to maintain their independence, value and allow their carers to have valuable respite from their caring responsibilities and what are the estimated costs for these substitute measures?”

A Pembrokeshire County Council spokesman has previously 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.”

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