AM Byron Davies pushes Welsh Government for answers on Briton Ferry's new health centre
THE Welsh Government is being pushed for an update for the long- delayed new Briton Ferry health centre.
Residents have waited more than eight years and seen various locations selected and abandoned for the multi-million pound new health complex.
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calls AM Byron Davies.
Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University (ABMU) Health Board finally selected a site at Baglan Energy Park next to Neath Port Talbot Council's centre at The Quays.
A detailed application for funding was put forward to the Welsh Government last November but as yet there has been no announcement. Now AM Byron Davies has called for an update, writing to the Welsh Government to ask what progress had been made and when a decision was expected.
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Mr Davies said he had met staff in the existing centre in Hunter Street and saw for himself the overcrowded conditions they had to work in. He has since received assurances from ABMU relating to patient security and the design of the centre.
Mr Davies had called for action to ensure people waiting for buses outside the centre on dark, winter afternoons could be clearly seen by those inside and that planting of greenery did not obscure a clear line of sight between the bus stop and the centre.
ABMU is also liaising with the bus companies to improve public transport into the site, as presently only one bus an hour goes there.
Mr Davies said: "I am glad these points have been taken on board," he said.
"The issue of public transport is also crucial. This centre stands out on a limb on the easternmost part of Briton Ferry, well away from where anyone lives.
"There are no houses and no passing traffic. As a former police officer, I had reservations about the safety of patients waiting alone for infrequent buses.
"Access is a major problem with this location but I have to accept assurances from the board that they looked at a whole list of possible sites within Briton Ferry and could not find anything suitable."
Mr Davies, Tory AM for South Wales West, said the existing centre, built in 1977, was shared by two practices and working conditions were very poor.
"The number of staff working there and the number of patients it deals with have completely outgrown the building so a new centre is desperately needed," he added.
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