Delays hit health board’s new Wellbeing Programme

Elgan Hearn, local democracy reporter

A cash strapped health board says that it is still “fully committed” to developing a multi-agency Health and Wellbeing Campus which includes a 32 bed hospital despite delays in submitting a business case to the Welsh Government.

It had been expected that Powys Teaching Health Board (PTHB) would have submitted the business case for the North Powys Wellbeing Programme to the government this summer.

But this has not been the case.

PTHB are working with Powys County Council on the wellbeing programme, which is supposed to bring health, social care, education, voluntary sector and even housing together in The Park area in Newtown.

The programme is intertwined with school transformation proposals in the town.

Last month the council moved ahead with a proposal which could eventually see a new primary school building built at The Park.

The Liberal Democrat/Labour Cabinet agreed to merging two primary schools in Newtown which will eventually see one closed at the end of August 2025.

Subject to funding, the second phase of this process would see a bigger school built at the Calon y Dderwen site during 2026/2027 with the pupils at Treowen primary school to go there.

While the council has progressed its school proposals – work on the wellbeing programme has disappeared from the public eye during 2024.

Squeeze

Concerns were raised last autumn that the programme was in danger of being shelved due to a squeeze on public finances.

At the time health board chiefs said that “progress” would be made in 2024 with the business case to be sent to the Welsh Government this summer.

This would have followed from public consultation on the proposals.

A PTHB spokesman on behalf of the North Powys Wellbeing Programme said: “We remain fully committed to the development of a multi-agency Health and Wellbeing Campus in Newtown, and we are in ongoing discussions with Welsh Government regarding our strategic outline case.

“Approval of the strategic outline case by Welsh Government will then launch further conversations with our communities on the next steps required to develop the outline business case.”

One of the programme’s biggest supporters is Powys County Council’s anti-poverty champion, Cllr Joy Jones of the Powys Independents group.

Cllr Jones said: “It is really important that this goes ahead.

“With the increase of poverty people are struggling to travel to and from general hospitals.

“With the pressure also on the ambulance service it is vital that more services can be offered locally as this is important for people’s health, their wellbeing and their budgets.”

Funding

In May 2019, the Welsh Government announced that £2.5 million of funding was made available to start work on the project.

The cost of the total scheme was estimated to be £122 million last year and was to be funded by the Welsh Government.

The hope was, that it will be built and open by 2026.

Last month PTHB revealed they were expecting to post a £22.9 million deficit budget this year.

PTHB are also currently consulting on proposals that would see changed to the opening hours of its Minor Injury Units as well as a move to concentrate specific types of patients in certain hospitals across the county.