Building a healthier future after COVID-19

Any pathway will need to be safe for our populations. The health board’s proposals for the new hospital, were mapped to ensure we provide an emergency service that is as close as possible to being within an hour of most populations in our area.

The term golden hour is not a simple 60 minutes - current maximum travel times differ depending on your condition. Emergency response starts at the point of the call to our clinical contact centre and the arrival of the emergency crew.

Paramedics are highly trained and can often provide the immediate care required to allow the extra journey time for patients to be treated at the most appropriate hospital. Some emergencies would also see the response of clinicians from the
Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS Cymru) at the scene
We continue to see advances in provision from other emergency services in Wales such as the extension of the Wales Air Ambulance to a 24/7 service since July 2020.

We have more work to do to review each acute pathway for hospital care, including stroke, cardiac events and major trauma. As we consider individual patient pathways, we will continue to work closely with Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust (WAST) and EMRTS Cymru, as well as neighbouring health boards, to ensure equity of access to emergency care for the population of Hywel Dda.

as part of the original consultation on the future of hospital resources, there were some undertakings to consider the transport of seriously ill people from the further reaches of the area. currently the SE is well served by the swansea hospitals or Cardiff all within an hours ambulance range. pembs is within the same for withybush and the N areas served by Glangwili _JUST- with the concentration of ambulance availability in the SS of the county and little or none in the N of carmarthenshire. The so called magic hour measure is just managed, but only just and still needs luck.
The new plans mean that serious heart or stroke incidents in the N of the county beyond LLandeilo will be upwards of 2 hours before treatment commences, so what measures are being PLanned - not just a vague proposal - to ensure you keep people alive and without damage. Ambulance to say Rhandirmwyn is 15-30 minutes to arrive and pick up with 45 minutes to Carmarthen then another 45 minutes to Narberth or beyond.
or is a few deaths and massively disabled stroke sufferers from these far flung areas an acceptable price to pay ?
Will facilities for these and any other urgent care be kept on at Glangwili (and withybush) in opposition to the 2019 plans to ensure that you have a safe health service for the whole of the Hywel dda area. or will you be publishing the safe area where you can ensure a prompt treatment
of urgent accidents, heart problems or stroke?

Thank you for taking the time to comment.

As you are probably aware an extensive period of public engagement and formal consultation concluded in 2018 with the decision as part of our Health and Care Strategy that we should develop a new urgent and planned care hospital in the area between Narberth and St Clears, and repurpose Withybush and Glangwili hospitals.

We can confirm that the Health Board does not yet own a site, nor does it hold an ‘option’ to develop a site. The Health Board has been very open in communications and engagement on this, and you might be aware we are currently managing a process to identify the most suitable site for a new hospital.

The constraints and challenges you mention will need to be overcome in planning and developing the new hospital and good transport links was one of the key criteria when we requested site nominations in the Summer.

It is, however, very clear that the current configuration of services is unsustainable and will need to change for all the reasons discussed during the consultation and which have been reinforced through our current experiences in managing the COVID-19 pandemic.
Please continue to keep up-to-date on these pages, or visit our website - https://hduhb.nhs.wales/about-us/healthier-mid-and-west-wales/
If you are not a member already, you may wish to join our membership and engagement scheme Siarad Iechyd Talking Health on this link https://re-url.uk/WQB6 to complete the online registration form.

Covid has shown us that hospitals need people within them to serve the population they provide a service to.....so any new development must be easily available and accessible to staff of all grades, including those of modest means who have to rely on public transport. From this it follows that any new development should be situated within an existing conurbation, with a well developed transport system.
Rumour has it that Hywel Dda purchased a large rural site near St Clears some years ago, and is now eager to use it whatever its suitability for current needs. Hywel Dda must confirm clearly whether they do already have a hold or option on such a site. Or equally clearly deny it, once and for all time. A single site hospital to serve all or almost all of Hywel Dda's population suggest that it would please or suit nobody, and attention should be focused on how modern specialised medicine can be provided on a multi-site basis, using electronic links to the fullest.
The other objection to a single site development is the need for a 'green' solution. Development of facilities on existing sites would best suit patients and staff from this point of view.
Arguments about a large centralised hospital being able to attract more and better medical staff are a load of eyewash. Paying them the full market rate and treating them with the respect they deserve would be a start.

Don’t move services from Haverfordwest. It is far enough for many people in Pembrokeshire to travel to. It has transport links around the county. Do not waste money on a big unnecessary vanity project that just makes healthcare more inaccessible for many people, especially those without their own transport. It is unbelievable after all we’ve gone through that you remain deaf to real needs.

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Questionnaire
This questionnaire accompanies the discussion document – Building a healthier future after COVID-19(External link), which can be found on this page under 'Documents', in a variety of formats. Please read this document before answering the following questions.

Not easy to see if this questionnaire is finished???