Montgomeryshire AM Mick Bates has welcomed the update on Renal Services by the Minister for Health, Edwina Hart, which sets out the timescale for the development of the dialysis unit in Welshpool.
Mr Bates will be working to keep the issue high on the agenda in the Assembly so that the timescale does not slip and the development keeps on track.
A Ministerial statement on April 28th by Minister Edwina Hart confirms that new dialysis facility in Welshpool is an ‘immediate priority’, that a temporary unit is anticipated to be operational by November 2010 and subject to a satisfactory business case, a new unit (12 stations) is planned to open early in 2012.
Welcoming the announcement by the Health Minister, Mr Bates comments:
“In January last year Powys was confirmed as a priority area for new dialysis capacity, with Welshpool and Llandrindod Wells both chosen as locations for new units in December. The Minister has now outlined the timescale for Welshpool, which will see a temporary unit operational by November this year and twelve stations proposed for the permanent unit to be open in early 2012, providing excellent capacity for patients in Powys.
“For too long dialysis patients in Powys have been forced to travel unacceptable distances to access treatment in Shrewsbury or Hereford. This has been a very lengthy process which has been held up by bureaucratic delays that have caused much frustration to all dedicated campaigners who have worked so hard for this new unit, but the crucial thing now is to ensure that the development keeps on track.
“I will be working to keep this high on the agenda over the coming months, so that the temporary unit sticks to schedule and the business case for a permanent unit is approved and work gets underway as soon as possible, so that patients can benefit from the enormous difference that local dialysis provision will make to their lives.”
