Hospital to reduce opening hours after concerns for patient safety
A proposal has been submitted to reduce opening hours at the Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli due to concerns over patient safety.
If backed, the move would see the Minor Injury Unit reduced from a 24-hour service, to a 12-hour daytime service from 8am to 8pm from November 1.
This comes after concerns about the unit were raised by Healthcare Inspectorate Wales and staff working in the unit.
The meeting of the Hywel Dda University Health Board heard that these concerns were triggered by the “frequent inability” to find suitably qualified doctors to cover the GP led service, particularly in evening and overnight sessions.
This has led to the service being led instead by Emergency Nurse Practitioners who, whilst extremely skilled at dealing with minor injuries, are not able to provide suitable care to patients who require a GP.
The temporary change would not affect the Acute Medical Assessment Unit, and very unwell medical patients will still be taken to Prince Philip Hospital, 24-hours a day, for assessment and treatment as they are now.
The board will consider the proposal and take a decision on whether to lower the hours for the next 6 months in a meeting on September 26.
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Well done Hywel Dda Health Board members, the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales and staff working in the unit. You never fail to amaze us! Reducing the hours in Llanelli will now add hours more to waiting times in Glangwili which is already at maximum capacity with stories of people waiting over 24 hours and more. These decisions always make me question the intelligence within the system. If this goes ahead doesn’t it move “patient safety” from Llanelli to Glangwili?
You are trying to apply common sense to Health Board management.
Or Morriston. It was disgraceful that we lost our A&E in the first place. Who can forget the picture of Nia Griffiths and Lee Waters holding up “Save our hospital” placards … Jesus wept 🤦♂️