Last week was a busy week for news in Carmarthenshire. On Tuesday the Health Minister, Mark Drakeford (Lab) announced that the accident and emergency unit at the Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli would be downgraded to become a nurse-led service supported by doctors.
Except of course that he did not use the word "downgrade".
Of all the worries and concerns that people in this region have at the moment, the future of our health services tops the list. Llanelli is the largest town in West Wales, and campaigners have fought long and hard to try to protect services at Prince Philip. 33,000 residents signed petitions opposing the change, which has nevertheless been given the go-ahead.
They have now been given leave to seek a judicial review of the minister's decision.
Simon Thomas (Plaid), AM for Mid and West Wales, has said that lifesaving services should be located as close to patents as possible, and that keeping the doctor-led A+E service in Llanelli is important. He is also worried that the Welsh Government has not considered the increased pressure that will be put on Morriston Hospital as a result of the changes.
Elin Jones, Plaid's Shadow Health Minister, said that her party would continue to oppose changes which were unsafe. If staff shortages were one of the factors which, according to the Welsh Government, had led to the need for reconfiguration, then recruitment was the solution.
Keith Davies (Lab), the AM for Llanelli, takes a rather different view. Changing from a fully-fledged A+E service to a nurse-led unit is emphatically not a downgrade, he says on his website, but is all about "upskilling" staff to provide a local service.Except of course that he did not use the word "downgrade".
Of all the worries and concerns that people in this region have at the moment, the future of our health services tops the list. Llanelli is the largest town in West Wales, and campaigners have fought long and hard to try to protect services at Prince Philip. 33,000 residents signed petitions opposing the change, which has nevertheless been given the go-ahead.
They have now been given leave to seek a judicial review of the minister's decision.
Simon Thomas (Plaid), AM for Mid and West Wales, has said that lifesaving services should be located as close to patents as possible, and that keeping the doctor-led A+E service in Llanelli is important. He is also worried that the Welsh Government has not considered the increased pressure that will be put on Morriston Hospital as a result of the changes.
Elin Jones, Plaid's Shadow Health Minister, said that her party would continue to oppose changes which were unsafe. If staff shortages were one of the factors which, according to the Welsh Government, had led to the need for reconfiguration, then recruitment was the solution.
Whereas Simon Thomas was worried that sending patients to an overstretched Morriston was a recipe for trouble, Keith Davies's tells his voters,
"Let us not forget how important Prince Philip was during the last winter when Glangwili and Morriston were unable to cope."
Anyone who says otherwise, according to Keith, is guilty of spin.
Any Llanelli residents feeling dazed and confused after trying to grapple with Keith's logic are advised to take an aspirin and lie down in a darkened room.
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