Emergency motion calls for action over hospital changes

Bruce Sinclair, Local Democracy Reporter

An emergency motion calling for greater action to safeguard the future of Withybush Hospital will be debated by councillors next week amid growing concern over the loss of emergency general surgery.

At a full meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council on March 5, the authority’s 11-strong Conservative group will urge the Welsh Government to use its statutory powers to intervene in a decision by Hywel Dda University Health Board to cease emergency general surgery at the Haverfordwest hospital.

The health board recently concluded a wide-ranging consultation on proposed changes to nine healthcare services it described as “fragile and in need of change”, including critical care, emergency general surgery, stroke, radiology and orthopaedics.

Among the changes approved at a recent two-day board meeting was the removal of emergency general surgery operations from Withybush, alongside plans to strengthen the hospital’s same-day emergency care (SDEC) provision. Patients requiring specialist critical care would be transferred to Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen.

The Conservative group’s motion argues that the Welsh Government has the authority to step in under Sections 26-28 of the NHS (Wales) Act 2006, which allow ministers to intervene in health board decisions.

In a statement accompanying the motion, the group says Pembrokeshire residents “have seen continual downgrading of services over the years” and that the latest decision “is life threatening to those who need emergency surgery and a matter of residents’ safety”.

The group claims that survival rates decrease by an average of four per cent for every hour lost and warns that those living in the west and north of the county will be disproportionately affected by longer travel times.

It also raises concerns about the wider implications for the hospital’s accident and emergency department, suggesting that without emergency general surgery, senior surgeons may leave and A&E provision could ultimately be placed at risk.

The Conservatives have questioned figures cited by First Minister Eluned Morgan on the number of patients affected by the change. While the First Minister reportedly referred to five patients per week, the group says Hywel Dda’s own figures indicate the number is closer to nine.

The motion acknowledges that Pembrokeshire County Council does not control local health services, but argues that its 60 councillors collectively represent around 120,000 residents who may at some point require hospital care.

Public backing

Group leader Cllr Di Clements said she believed there would be widespread public backing for the call to reverse the decision.

“I am certain the whole county will support our aim to prevent any more downgrading of services at Withybush,” she said. “We are treated like second class citizens, and it is just not good enough.”

The motion asks the Labour Welsh Government to intervene and immediately reverse the health board’s decision, stating that removing emergency general surgery “critically undermines the sustainability” of Withybush’s A&E department and fails to account for the potential risks to local residents.