Shadow Minister for Health, Darren Millar AM, has branded the Welsh Government’s plans to cut the number of 24/7 consultant-led A and E departments in Wales as a ‘reckless and irresponsible way forward’.
Mr Millar was speaking after visiting the emergency department at Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor, where the Clwyd West AM met with a number of senior staff at the hospital and toured the site.
The visit follows the publication of cabinet papers last week which confirm that the Welsh Government is planning a reduction in the number of sites which provide ‘24/7 consultant-led emergency care’, as well as the number of sites ‘providing emergency general surgery services’. A document entitled ‘Together for Health – Why Change is Needed’ was endorsed by the First Minister during the cabinet meeting on March 13th.
It follows last November’s ‘Five year Vision for the NHS’ in which the health minister also outlined other significant changes – ‘All District General hospitals across Wales will retain an essential role but this will change…’
Welsh Conservatives have said that local health services should be available for local people and Mr Millar has already set out his opposition to any plans to force patients to travel further for life-saving care, along with proposals for the downgrading of hospitals and a reduction in the number of 24/7 consultant-led emergency departments.
Mr Millar said:
“The emergency department I’ve visited today is a prime example of an excellent life-saving unit with hard-working frontline staff.
“Plans to hover an axe above services at sites across Wales are a reckless and irresponsible way forward for the health service. The proposals do not adhere to the underlying principles of our NHS and must be abandoned.
“As it stands, A and E waiting times are not being met and the target for ambulance performance is significantly lower than in England and Scotland. Labour’s answer is to make the situation worse by cutting emergency departments and heaping more pressure on hard-working staff.
“While the First Minister makes record-breaking cuts of over half a billion pounds to the Welsh health budget, leaked papers prove his officials are busy working on a PR campaign to try and get the public on side. Slash and burn cuts, A and E closures, and hospital downgrades are not the way forward.
“These plans will decimate our health service and I urge the First Minister to invest in these services to give them a long term future.”
