Patients from Cardigan, Narberth, Kilgetty, Saundersfoot and Tenby will be treated at Glangwili Hospital rather than Withybush

Hywel Dda University Health Board (UHB) has announced this morning (Thursday) its solution to continue admitting patients and keeping the Withybush Emergency and Urgent Care Centre open despite a shortage of doctors.

They include reducing the number of patients admitted to Withybush Hospital “by temporarily changing the catchment area of Withybush Hospital, diverting GP admissions and ambulance transfers from Cardigan, Narberth, Kilgetty, Saundersfoot and Tenby to Glangwili Hospital, Carmarthen”.

The health board claim that the road network from these areas is “good and travel times similar to Glangwili Hospital as Withybush Hospital so patients are not disadvantaged and the impact on the Welsh Ambulance Services Trust is also lessened”.

It adds that “more beds will be provided at Glangwili and Prince Philip Hospital to care for these patients, supported by medical and nursing staff allocated to the hospital and agency staff where necessary” but no details on how this will be achieved have been released as of yet.

The hospital is facing a temporary shortage of doctors whilst some of those recruited by the UHB await Visas.

Recruitment by the UHB has been necessary after the Wales Deanery were unable to send any junior core training doctors to the hospital for the regular August start.

The health board state that the temporary situation is likely to be in place from August to December.

Chief Executive Steve Moore explained: “Our priority, both for our Pembrokeshire patients and the wider Hywel Dda community, has been to find a solution that keeps Withybush Hospital open to medical admissions and to keep the doors to the Emergency and Urgent Care Centre open.

“I am really proud of our staff – both those on the frontline providing patient care and in back office functions – who have been able to work together on this solution, which means patients can continue to use and access healthcare services as they usually do.

“I would like to stress that the changes we are putting in place to allow this to happen are temporary and we are rebuilding a long term healthcare model for the hospital with our doctors and other staff.”

A health board spokesman added that alternative options considered but discarded by the UHB in light of the preferred model included a reduced hours intake of medical patients to core daytime hours only.

This would have threatened the ability to keep the Emergency and Urgent Care Department open at night and on weekends.

Mr Moore, who spoke at an all staff meeting in Withybush Hospital this morning, (while meetings also took place in other main hospitals), said: “We don’t underestimate this significant workforce challenge but we believe it can be overcome with the measures we are taking, and with as little disruption to patients as possible.

“We are actively looking at new and innovative models of care to put the hospital on a firmer footing in the long term and providing care as close to home where we can. This takes time and we ask staff, patients and the public to work with us while we put them in place.

“Patients can help their local health service in the meantime by choosing their healthcare services carefully so that they get the best and quickest access to care and reserve emergency services for those who need them most.”

Preseli Pembrokeshire MP Stephen Crabb, told the Western Telegraph: "I requested a meeting with the Hywel Dda University Health Board management and met with Steve Moore, Chief Executive and Dr Phil Kloer, Clinical Director, last Friday at Withybush Hospital.

"We had a frank and honest discussion about the state of recruitment across the Hywel Dda area and I am very aware of the challenges at Withybush especially in terms of keeping  A&E open. The staff there are doing an amazing job and they deserve our full support and commitment.

"I have already had urgent discussions this week with my Ministerial colleagues about recruitment in the NHS and the particular challenges that we have here in Wales.  I am awaiting details from the Health Board about the specific visa cases and will be working with the Home Office team to get these much needed medical staff in post as soon as possible. 

"There is no question that current recruitment difficulties have been made worse across Wales by the damaging and needless budget cuts that the Welsh Labour Government have made even after they were given the extra money to protect health services in Wales."

Labour group leader on Pembrokeshire County Council, Paul Miller, said: ''I'm very disappointed that the moves announced today have become necessary and I hope the issues driving these temporary changes will be resolved as swiftly as humanly possible.

"One of those drivers, the Health Board has made clear, is the delay being experienced in obtaining work visas for appointed doctors. I have written to the Home Secretary today to ask that she intervene directly to expedite these visas and Pembrokeshire Council will also be writing later today in the same vein.

"I feel I need to say that I do have trust and confidence in the new team at Hywel Dda and that I recognise that they are dealing with a legacy left by the previous regime. I will continue to support the new team in their efforts to improve the situation in Pembrokeshire but the board must know that any suggestion of the moves outlined today continuing beyond December would be completely unacceptable."