Carmarthenshire hospital to close under major health service shake-up plans
MYNYDD Mawr hospital in Tumble will close under a huge reshuffle of the health service in West Wales.
At a meeting of the Hywel Dda Health Board in Carmarthen yesterday health service managers approved recommendations to close the hospital and replace it with a new facility at Llanelli's Prince Philip Hospital.
The changes are due to happen in the summer. Under the changes staff at Mynydd Mawr will be transferred to Prince Philip.
Also as part of the changes the board will continue with the planning and developing of a new community resource centre in Cross Hands. This will provide a base for services in the community and could be commissioned in 2015.
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The recommendation in the report that went before yesterday's meeting said: "The findings of the review for Mynydd Mawr Hospital showed that around half of the patients could have been cared for in a more appropriate setting such as the community if we had services available.
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"However, for those patients who do need to be in hospital, they have increasingly complex needs, increasing frailty and dependency.
"We believe there can be more appropriate care by developing an alternative service at Prince Philip Hospital that would better support patients."
Turning to opposition to the plans during consultation, the health board said: "Local politicians and political groups were generally not supportive of the closure of
the hospital stating that they did not wish to see any loss of beds in the community and they were concerned at the impact on other services, particularly community care."
Hundreds of people had opposed closing the hospital.
The Hywel Dda Community Health Council (CHC) said it could not support the proposals but said that when other comprehensive facilities are in place, they would discuss the issue further.
Addressing the concerns, the board's report stated moving the Mynydd Mawr services would have no increased pressure on beds at Prince Philip.
It's report added: "The rehabilitation unit will be within a currently unused ward template so there will be no loss of current acute bed numbers."
The health board will now appoint a team to draw
up designs for the new facility.
Speaking before the meeting Clive Scourfield, chairman of the Mynydd Mawr Hospital League of Friends, said: "It's a great facility, not only for the people of Tumble, and the Gwendraeth, but for the whole of Carmarthenshire."
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