Paul Davies vows Senedd fight as fears grow over travel times and patient safety
PEMBROKESHIRE patients will be forced to travel further for lifesaving treatment after a controversial decision to remove emergency general surgery services from Withybush Hospital.
The move was confirmed following an extraordinary two-day meeting of the Hywel Dda University Health Board held on Wednesday and Thursday (Feb 18–19), where senior officials took decisions on nine services as part of the organisation’s long-running Clinical Services Plan.
The decision has sparked immediate political backlash, with local Senedd Member Paul Davies condemning the outcome and warning it represents another major blow to healthcare provision in Pembrokeshire.
Mr Davies said: “I’m extremely angry that Hywel Dda University Health Board has once again decided to remove services from Withybush Hospital,” he said.
“Patients will now have to travel for emergency general surgery services and it’s another example of the Health Board doing whatever it wants, against the will of the people of Pembrokeshire.
“This is the latest in a long line of services that has been stripped from the hospital over the years and is further evidence that the Health Board is pushing a centralisation agenda that punishes the people of Pembrokeshire.”
Kerry Ferguson, Plaid Cymru Senedd election candidate for Pembrokeshire said: “We are so disappointed with the Health Board’s decision to remove the current emergency general services from Withybush. Whilst the Board has committed to maintaining and strengthening Same Day Emergency Care, residents of west Pembrokeshire will still face at least an hour’s journey to receive emergency operations or significant treatment.
Residents in Pembrokeshire are rightly worried and anxious about the services Withybush might lose, and losing their emergency general services is a huge blow.
I call on the Health Board to urgently reconsider their decision, and to take into account the risks and impact that implementing option A will have on residents of Pembrokeshire.”
Clinical Services Plan
Last year, the Health Board consulted communities across west Wales on proposed changes to nine services considered “fragile and in need of change,” including critical care, dermatology, emergency general surgery, endoscopy, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, stroke, radiology and urology.
The consultation covered the region’s four main hospitals — Withybush in Haverfordwest, Glangwili in Carmarthen, Prince Philip in Llanelli and Bronglais in Aberystwyth.
Health chiefs previously said the services were selected because of risks around sustainability, staffing and the ability to deliver safe, timely care.
During the consultation process, communities submitted around 190 alternative ideas, later narrowed down to 22 potential options for consideration by board members.
What the decision means
Following the board’s decision, emergency general surgery operations will no longer take place at Withybush Hospital.
However, the Health Board says same-day emergency care (SDEC) services at Withybush will be strengthened.
For the other hospitals in the region, there will be no change to emergency general surgery provision, apart from an expansion of same-day emergency care at Glangwili Hospital.
Board members stressed that the changes would not happen immediately.
Chief Executive Phil Kloer told the meeting the proposals were aimed at “improving the quality of service for the public,” adding that a Pembrokeshire-preferred option — alternating emergency surgery between Withybush and Glangwili on different weeks — had raised safety concerns among clinicians and managers.
Other service changes
The board also backed changes to critical care services.
Under the plans, intensive care provision will remain unchanged at all hospitals except Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli, where the intensive care unit will be replaced by an enhanced care unit, with the sickest patients transferred elsewhere.
Political backlash
Mr Davies said he was “appalled” by the outcome.
“The Health Board is obsessed with removing services from Pembrokeshire and has spent years downgrading and removing services from Withybush Hospital,” he said.
“As one constituent has rightly said, the Board should be rebranded the Carmarthenshire Health Board, as it continues to strip assets from other hospitals in west Wales.”
He warned the decision could undermine emergency care locally.
“Removing general emergency services critically undermines the sustainability of Withybush Hospital’s A&E department and will result in patients having to be transported for urgent treatment.
“This is not acceptable – I will be taking this to the Welsh Government and urging Ministers to intervene and stop the Health Board from making this catastrophic decision.”
Wider concerns
The removal of emergency general surgery from Withybush is likely to reignite long-running concerns about healthcare access in west Wales, particularly around travel distances, ambulance pressures and the resilience of rural health services.
Campaigners have repeatedly warned that losing specialist services increases risks for patients facing time-critical conditions.
A full statement from the Health Board is expected following the conclusion of the meeting.
Board papers and meeting information are available via the Health Board website.
