Labour and Plaid Cymru have secretly ditched a moratorium on hospital closures in Wales, Welsh Conservative have said.
They said that information obtained by South Wales West AM Alun Cairns reveals Health Minister Edwina Hart tore up a promise given after the last Assembly elections and has since written to NHS bosses informing them of a change in policy.
Mr Cairns has called for a statement from the minister explaining the shift in policy which was made in a letter to health trusts and LHBs more than a year ago.
He said:
“The Assembly Government made a clear commitment after the last Assembly elections not to close any hospitals in Wales.
“This clear, unequivocal policy reassured many communities who campaigned against hospital closures in the run-up to those elections.
“I am therefore appalled to learn that the minister revoked that policy in October 2008 in a private note to NHS managers when she knew it would escape public scrutiny.
“It is particularly ironic that the first possible closure could be Fairwood Hospital in Edwina Hart’s own constituency.
“Decisions affecting the delivery of local healthcare must be properly scrutinised. People using small hospitals the length and breadth of Wales need to know where they stand.”
