Health bosses dismiss rumours over A&E axe at Bridgend's Princess of Wales Hospital
RUMOURS that a South Wales hospital's A&E department is being axed have been dismissed as untrue.
Health chiefs insist no decision has been made on the service at Bridgend's Princess of Wales Hospital.
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Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend
Its status is being reviewed as part of the South Wales Programme, which aims to address problems caused by having specialist services spread across too many sites.
The review proposes having four or five regional hospitals providing a full range of services.
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Morriston, the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, and Gwent's new Specialist and Critical Care Centre would definitely become regional centres.
Key services including A&E are also provided at Princess of Wales, Prince Charles in Merthyr Tydfil and the Royal Glamorgan in Llantrisant.
Health authorities said only one or two of these could continue, although the hospital or hospitals not becoming regional centres would still provide a range of local services.
The programme is now subject to a public consultation exercise. But Abertawe Bro Morgannwg Community Health Council was told the decision to axe Bridgend A&E had already been made.
CHC member Alan Phillips said the word in the hospital was that the department was going.
"Everyone seems to 'know' it isn't going to be there," he added. "There is something going on in the background that we are not aware of.
"Rumours do not start from nothing. Some rumours start in the morning and become true by the end of the afternoon."
CHC chief officer Phil Williams said: "If I thought there was a predetermination on Bridgend I would be raising it as a major concern.
"There is a natural concern about what is going to happen but the same applies to Royal Glamorgan and Prince Charles hospitals. The same rumours are taking place there."
Mr Williams said he and CHC chairman Emrys Davies had raised the matter with ABM University Health Board chief executive Paul Roberts.
He added: "We have told him they have to make every effort so that the people of Bridgend understand we are talking about what-ifs.
"There are no firm proposals. They will not appear until after the end of the engagement process."
Chairman Mr Davies said ABM had to take extra care that, if the decision was to move A&E away from Bridgend, the board could not be accused of predetermination.
"They took that on board," he said. "They said the situation was difficult and they were briefing staff constantly, and they understood what they were saying because they had the same concerns themselves."
An ABM spokeswoman said: "We can once more give assurances that no decision has been made about the future role of A&E Department at the Princess of Wales Hospital."
She said ABM and other health boards were sharing initial ideas about the possible future configuration of some services. Public feedback from the engagement would help shape firm proposals next year.
"If the Princess of Wales Hospital does not become a regional centre it would still continue to deal with most of the types of cases which currently use A&E, through a minor injury service," she said.
"Only the sickest and most seriously injured patients would need to go to a nearby regional centre."
Comments
by ABM_Health
Monday, October 29 2012, 9:24AM
“To imspiller - I would be very grateful if you could give me one single example of where this is 'spin'. Everything I am saying can be backed up by evidence.
It may not be comfortable reading, but it is none the less accurate. We welcome everyone to come to one of our drop-in information days to find out ore and have a chat to us about the challenges facing the NHS and the ideas which are emerging about how to tackle these challenges.
To answer the claim that this is about 'downgrading' services - it's not. It's actually an attempt to provide better services than we are doing now. Remember that these are the ideas from senior doctors and nurses. Ask yourself - why would they deliberately want to 'downgrade' services? The reality is they can see the challenges facing the NHS and they know that action needs to be taken.
This is not about 'spin' - this is a genuine attempt to get people involved in an informed debate about the need for changes in the NHS and how best these can happen.”
by imspiller
Friday, October 26 2012, 6:47PM
“Thank you for your reply Susan (ABM).... Again another great bit of spin from a talented PR lady... Siarad2 hits the nail on the head your floating ideas to make the reality less painful in the future, this policy stinks like the report that thought it up... How on earth heads didn't roll over that one thank goodness the Labour Party stick together or the health minister would have been down the road, policy to fit the finances and ABM complacent of neglect and bad management.
Keep up the good work, always nice to hear your nicely polished rhetoric
Save Our Services - Stop the Downgrade! Visit our dedicated site http://tinyurl.com/cphvbvm”
by Andrew_N
Friday, October 26 2012, 6:37PM
“I wonder if closing the A & E service from 10pm to 10am not count as closure?
Far to often we have playing of words being used here.
Combine thgis with the downgrading of Neath Port Talbot Hospital and more frightingly the reduction of services that hav ebeen reported around paramedic services is getting a worry should we ever fall seriously ill and need a paramedic and thean a A & E department.”
by siarad2
Friday, October 26 2012, 5:17PM
“Start a rumour & the later reality becomes less painful”
by sochat
Friday, October 26 2012, 4:33PM
“Take note this is what youre liebor party is doing for you SUCKERS.”
by williamwaun
Friday, October 26 2012, 2:29PM
“The assembly are a bunch or cretins. We have great Doctors and Nurses, but the assembly are meddling with the services, which they should leave well alone. They should give the powers of our Health Service to the Doctors. The Labour party in Cardiff said they wouldn't be closing A&E in Port Talbot and looked what happened there, they diluted the services. They need to look after the people of Wales not neglect them. And ABM Health please don't reply because you are trying to brain wash the people of Wales. Our doctors and nurses are doing a great job and need to be praised.”
by ABM_Health
Friday, October 26 2012, 1:37PM
“To imspiller,
One of the main pressures facing the NHS is a chronic shortage of doctors, which has been going on for some years but is getting worse.
None of the A&Es in South Wales have enough A&E consultants and senior A&E doctors. It is the same with paediatricians. We do not meet the minimum numbers of doctors recommended by the Royal Colleges.
What this means is we are plugging gaps by bringing in temporary agency doctors, or getting by with fewer doctors than we should to provide an optimum service.
What this means for patients is that their chances of getting seen by an experienced doctor is reduced, and therefore their chances of getting the best treatment possible is reduced.
What it means for services is that they become unstable and vulnerable, and could collapse because it becomes unsafe.
So what doctors and nurses are suggesting is that we should pool our resources in South Wales to provide centres of excellence for our sickest patients, while continuing to provide as much care as possible for less seriously ill patients in their local hospitals.
Locally, in the ABMU area, Morriston Hospital is considered "fixed" as one of these new Regional Centres of excellence. The Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend may also become one, or that role may be taken up by the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant or the Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr, or there may be a combination of two of these three hospitals.
If the Princess of Wales Hospital does not become a Regional Centre, then the majority of services it provides now would continue. To put this in perspective, the services that ABMU and the other South Wales health boards are looking at use up about 6% of our total spending.
With A&E, if POW did not become a regional centre, then the majority of cases the A&E department sees now would still continue to be seen at POW. Only the sickest and most badly injured patients would need to go to a nearby regional centre.
When they got there they would be seen by a team of experts who were experienced enough and had the right kind of expertise to give them the best possible chance of survival and recovery.
If POW did not become a Regional service most existing children's services would continue as now. Only the children needing to be admitted as an inpatient would go to a nearby Regional Centre.
So in a nutshell this is all about trying to find ways to save more lives and have better outcomes by making the better use of our staff and resources.”
by ABM_Health
Friday, October 26 2012, 1:26PM
“Hi apharold,
The ideas which are being put forward to try and improve the quality and safety of NHS services are not from "bureaucrats". These ideas are from hundreds of senior doctors, nurses and other clinicians who have been working closely together trying to find solutions to the very real challenges facing the NHS.
Also, there have been no decision made - not even firm plans. These are initial ideas which we are sharing with people to get their views and suggestions.
If you want to find out more: http://tinyurl.com/83r2pmv or please come along to one of our 16 drop-in information days being held across Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend. The full list is on our website - link above.”
by imspiller
Friday, October 26 2012, 1:12PM
“There certainly appears to be a tone from ABM now that no decisions are made but if they are made don't worry it will only affect a very small percentage of the overall people who use hospital services.
Perhaps The NHS and government departments should have spent the last decade solving this problem rather than spending all this extra investment in our hospitals which now results in them closing wards and shutting down services because we haven't got enough doctors. How much do these people get paid - are they not able to spot the elephant in the room?
At a time when populations are rising, forecasts are for an additional 40,000 homes over the next decade or so in Cardiff don't we need more hospital services spread over more centres, afterall the existing infrastructure can barely cope as it is, the existing sites cannot cope with indefinate expansion, the car parks are swelling beyond capacity. Why must patients suffer and it be called progress?
Please take a moment to visit our site Bridgend Princess of Wales - Save Our Services, Stop The Downgrade! http://tinyurl.com/cphvbvm and sign our petition against these ludicrous ideas. Thanks Ian Spiller.
https://http://tinyurl.com/d68ljc6”
by apharold
Friday, October 26 2012, 10:31AM
“i have a suggestion to put forward to ABM, why not close all medical services in the ABM area and just ship everyone who needs hospital treatment out of the area to other boards, think of the saving no staff to employ, no buildings to maintain and all the monies saved could be spread further amongst all the bureaucrat's who make these decisions.”