Keith Davies AM in call on Health Board to outline plans

Llanelli AM Keith Davies has called on the University Health Board to present their plans for changes to accident and emergency services at Llanelli’s Prince Philip Hospital to the people of the town.

Speaking since the announcement that the Judicial Review taken against the Welsh ministers and the Health Board had failed, Keith Davies AM said:

“This will be a disappointing result for Tony Flatley who I know, along with members of the SOSPPAN committee have worked hard to put the case forward. I shared concerns over the consultation process and they way in which the process left local people feeling excluded.

“The Health Board tells me it has been working with clinicians, the CHC and other locally interested parties to develop plans for the doctor-led unit at Prince Philip Hospital as determined by the Minister.

“The Health Board must do much, much better at communicating with the general public. It needs to be clear with local patients how it expects emergency care to be delivered at Prince Philip Hospital in future. It must outline what will be available locally and what will be offered elsewhere so that patients have the facts. Now that a new Chair and Interim Chief Executive are in place I believe it is time they presented their plans to local people to provide assurances that future services will be safe and accessible.”

“I will be meeting with new Chair, Bernardine Rees over the summer recess. It is vital that the Health Board fully road test their proposals before any changes come into effect.”

Ambulances

In recent weeks, concerns have been raised with the Llanelli AM over ambulance cover for Llanelli and the county of Carmarthenshire following a series of high profile incidents where the arrival of an ambulance has been seriously delayed.

Keith Davies continued: “I want to get to the bottom of the issues affecting the ambulance service, so too, does Nia Griffith MP. I have arranged for us both to meet with the Welsh Ambulance Service in the coming week to hear how local managers intend to address these issues.”