Minor Injury Unit - Prince Philip Hospital Consultation
Hywel Dda University Health Board (the Health Board) provides health services for people across Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, and Pembrokeshire and also for nearby communities. This consultation is about how we could provide services at the Minor Injury Unit at Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli in the future. Following a temporary change, opening hours changed from 24 hours a day seven days a week to a 12-hour service available 8am to 8pm seven days a week.
The urgent and temporary change to opening hours was made because of concerns about quality and safety, raised by Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW). In addition to the safety and quality issues, there were a lack of doctors available to work overnight at the unit, meaning the risk to safety was greater. We are seeking your views on the best model for the Minor Injury Unit at Prince Philip Hospital. We have four options that have been developed that we would like your feedback on. We are also open to new ideas that have not yet been considered.
In this consultation, we want you to tell us:
- which proposed option you think best addresses the challenges the Minor Injury Unit at Prince Philip Hospital faces will improve patient and staff safety, help with staff shortages and address the concerns from Health Inspectorate Wales
- concerns you may have about any of the options, or impacts you think they may have
- anything else you think we need to consider, including alternative options or ideas you may have.
For information about the consultation, please read our consultation document that accompanies this questionnaire and/or go online to: hduhb.nhs.wales/PPHMIU
If you wish to receive a paper copy or you need a more accessible format, please call us on 0300 303 8322 (local call rates) and select option 5 ‘other services’.
To give your feedback, please complete this questionnaire and return it to the FREEPOST address on the last page, to arrive by 22 July 2025; or answer the questions online hduhb.nhs.wales/PPHMIU by the same date.
The views of people responding in a personal capacity will be anonymous, and as such, you should not reveal any personally identifiable information about yourself within the free text boxes, just your views are needed. However, feedback from representatives of organisations or someone acting in an official capacity, may be shared. We will use your views and new ideas, along with the supporting evidence we have gathered, to inform our decision on a long-term solution for how we provide services at the Minor Injury Unit at Prince Philip Hospital.
All the questions are optional and all information you provide will be processed in accordance with latest data protection legislation. Information will only be used to inform this consultation, and any personal information that could identify you will be kept for no more than one year after any decisions have been finalised. For further information, please see hduhb.nhs.wales/about-us/governance-arrangements/your-information-your-rights/privacy-notices.
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Complete questionnaire
Hywel Dda University Health Board (the Health Board) provides health services for people across Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, and Pembrokeshire and also for nearby communities. This consultation is about how we could provide services at the Minor Injury Unit at Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli in the future. Following a temporary change, opening hours changed from 24 hours a day seven days a week to a 12-hour service available 8am to 8pm seven days a week. The urgent and temporary change to opening hours was made because of concerns about quality and safety, raised by Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW). In addition to the safety and quality issues, there were a lack of doctors available to work overnight at the unit, meaning the risk to safety was greater. We are seeking your views on the best model for the Minor Injury Unit at Prince Philip Hospital. We have four options that have been developed that we would like your feedback on. We are also open to new ideas that have not yet been considered.
In this consultation, we want you to tell us:
- which proposed option you think best addresses the challenges the Minor Injury Unit at Prince Philip Hospital faces will improve patient and staff safety, help with staff shortages and address the concerns from Health Inspectorate Wales
- concerns you may have about any of the options, or impacts you think they may have
- anything else you think we need to consider, including alternative options or ideas you may have.
For information about the consultation, please read our consultation document that accompanies this questionnaire and/or go online to: hduhb.nhs.wales/PPHMIU
If you wish to receive a paper copy or you need a more accessible format, please call us on 0300 303 8322 (local call rates) and select option 5 ‘other services’.
To give your feedback, please complete the questionnaire below by 22 July 2025.
The views of people responding in a personal capacity will be anonymous, and as such, you should not reveal any personally identifiable information about yourself within the free text boxes, just your views are needed. However, feedback from representatives of organisations or someone acting in an official capacity, may be shared. We will use your views and new ideas, along with the supporting evidence we have gathered, to inform our decision on a long-term solution for how we provide services at the Minor Injury Unit at Prince Philip Hospital.
All the questions are optional and all information you provide will be processed in accordance with latest data protection legislation. Information will only be used to inform this consultation, and any personal information that could identify you will be kept for no more than one year after any decisions have been finalised. For further information, please see hduhb.nhs.wales/about-us/governance-arrangements/your-information-your-rights/privacy-notices
Minor Injury Unit at Prince Philip Hospital
Please read the consultation document for more information including travel, funding and timescales for each option.
Minor Injury Units provide care for injuries that need attention urgently but are not critical or life threatening. The Minor Injury Unit at Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli provides care to adults and children over 12 months old with minor injuries such as:
- minor wounds
- minor bites and stings (from humans, insects, or animals)
- minor burns or scald
- minor head injuries / scalp laceration
- foreign bodies in the ear or nose
- minor limb injuries
- minor eye injuries
A Minor Injury Unit is not an Emergency Department (Accident and Emergency, A&E), it can only treat minor injuries, as listed above.
Following the temporary change to opening hours in November 2024, the service is currently open 12 hours, 8am to 8pm, seven days a week. As part of the option development process the following options were developed:
- Option 1 - Doctor-led service available every day for 12 hours
This is the how the service is currently being delivered. This option helps address staff shortages that the Minor Injury Unit has faced and helps to address some of the concerns raised by Health Inspectorate Wales. This option does mean that members of the community who have a minor injury whilst the unit is closed would have to travel further to access care at other hospital sites, if unable to wait until the unit is open.
- Option 2 - Doctor-led service available every day for 14 hours
This option would mean the service is open to the public from 7am-9pm, and for 2 hours longer than is currently being provided and described in Option 1. This would help to address staff shortages, but to a lesser extent than Option 1, as well as address some the concerns raised by Health Inspectorate Wales. The option would still mean members of the community who have a minor injury whilst the unit is closed would have to travel further to access care at other hospital sites, if unable to wait until the unit is open, but this would be reduced from a 12-hour period to 10-hour period.
- Option 3 - Doctor-led phased service, available every day initially for 12 hours, increasing to 14 hours, and then 24 hours
This option would aim to return the service back to its previous operating hours pre-November 2024. This would be done in a phased way, allowing more time to address staff shortages. Once back to a 24-hour service this would mean that members of the community wouldn’t need to travel further to access a minor injury unit overnight. However, when operating at a 24-hour service, this wouldn’t address the concerns raised by Health Inspectorate Wales and would require doctors to work overnight, which is one of the reasons for the staff shortages.
- Option 4 - Urgent care centre (Same Day Urgent Care* type model) available every day for 14 hours a day
This option would be a new way to deliver the service and would see the Minor Injury Unit and the Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC)* services come together. SDEC provides tests and treatments for adult patients with medical problems that do not require hospital admission and can be accessed via a patient's GP. This would allow for more injuries/illnesses that need attention urgently but are not critical or life threatening, to be seen and treated, than the current service offers. Like Option 2 this would help to address staff shortages, but to a lesser extent than Option 1, as well as address some of the safety concerns raised by Health Inspectorate Wales. The option would still mean members of the community who have a minor injury whilst the unit is closed would have to travel further to access care at other hospital sites, if unable to wait until the unit is open, but this would be reduced from a 12-hour period to 10-hour period.
* Same Day Urgent Care services provide immediate care for non-life-threatening illnesses on the same day you need help. Patients can be referred in by other professionals or attend on the day. They can diagnose and deal with many of the common problems including minor injuries normally seen at a minor injury unit as well as minor illness. Patients can be assessed, diagnosed, and treated and then they can return home the same day. They may be given a plan of care involving referrals to other services if necessary. These services will also develop links with community services so that patients can have tests and treatments for certain conditions, avoiding the need to come to the hospital.
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