Re-providing Mynydd Mawr services to bring care closer to home

Hywel Dda Health Board today approved the transfer of services provided from Mynydd Mawr Hospital in Tumble into the community and a new service at Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli.

The Health Board has listened to all feedback received from the consultation exercise and other evidence, and subsequently approved a broader recommendation that will provide multi-specialty care to the frailest of our inpatients bringing together Psychiatry for the Elderly and Geriatric Medicine.

The Board also committed to the ongoing planning and development of a modern, state-of-the-art community resource centre at Cross Hands as part of investment into community services to provide care as close to a patient’s home as possible.

It is anticipated that the new service at Prince Philip Hospital will be ready to accommodate patients by summer 2013 and the new Cross Hands resource centre will open in 2015.

A clinically led group of staff will design a modernised service for Prince Philip Hospital to meet patients’ needs and ensure the successful transfer of services.

There will be no job losses. Staff based at the Tumble hospital have been consulted and will be fully supported through the transition to the new services.

Mynydd Mawr Hospital, built in the 1920s, with extensions built in the 1970s, is one of the Health Board’s oldest buildings and provides inpatient rehabilitation services for residents from across Carmarthenshire. However, development and modernisation of the facility is greatly restricted due to its layout and maintenance costs. Outpatients and diagnostics cannot be provided on site meaning inpatients must currently travel to Prince Philip Hospital should they need further tests. Increasing age and vulnerability of patients and increased levels of dementia are also a risk in a facility not appropriate for our more confused and frail patients. As a consequence of this, Mynydd Mawr Hospital will close when the new unit in Prince Philip Hospital is ready.

Director of Strategic Integration, Therapies and Health Science and Executive Lead for community services, Kathryn Davies, said: “We strongly believe the care our patients currently admitted to Mynydd Mawr need could be provided more appropriately by developing an alternative purpose-designed service at Prince Philip Hospital and by supporting services delivered in the community and patients’ own homes.

“The decision to remove inpatient services from Mynydd Mawr Hospital has been made following due consideration of feedback and evaluation of the estate and the nature of care needed by patients.

“In 2011, a review identified that 44% of Mynydd Mawr patients were suitable for an alternative level of care and in 2011/12 patients stayed on average 31 days.

“The Health Board is very aware of the high regard the local community holds for the hospital but also has a duty to ensure our services and buildings are able to meet the demands of future generations for years to come. A new, modern purpose designed service will better support patients, particularly those with dementia.”

Significant investment has already been made in services delivered in the community, for example Acute Response Teams (ART), respite care delivered in a care home setting and, in time, a new purpose built community resource centre. By providing better access to facilities closer to where people live, the Health Board will reduce the number of people who need to visit or be admitted to a main hospital for services such as blood tests and x-rays without the need to travel far.

Linda Williams, County Director of Carmarthenshire, said: “We’d like to recognise and thank all the staff, past and present, who have delivered services at Mynydd Mawr which I know is held in very high esteem by the local community. The League of Friends and other supportive groups have made an invaluable contribution over many years and we would like to pay tribute and thank them for their dedication, we recognise this will be especially very sad news for them.

“The intended outcome of this consultation was to ensure the NHS can provide the care our patients need for many years to come. The new service at Prince Philip Hospital will enhance the care and recovery environment for both patients and staff whilst community services to support treatment and care closer to home continue to be developed.

“The hospital has served its community well and this should be celebrated. However, health services are now unrecognisable when compared to the 1920s when Mynydd Mawr was first built as an isolation hospital. The local community will soon have access to a modern building with a greater range of services for the benefit of the wider community for the future in Cross Hands.”

The Health Board also acknowledged the charitable funds that have been provided to Mynydd Mawr Hospital and the gifts that have been donated in memory of patients and has asked the implementation group to ensure all donated items and funds are fully used in the new facility at Prince Philip Hospital or in the community resource centre at Cross Hands.

The full recommendation report, and other resources, can be found at www.hywelddahb.wales.nhs.uk/Consultation