Last week Keith Davies AM and I had a long meeting with Chris Martin, the Chairman of the Hywel Dda Health Board and Trevor Purt, the Chief Executive.
We know that amongst the people of Llanelli, there is very considerable appreciation of the excellent work done at Prince Philip Hospital, and also considerable concern about the future provision of services, and not a day goes by when we are not talking about health services with someone, and we are grateful for the feedback we have from current staff and patients.
Before our meeting with the health board, we also had an update from members of the Community Health Council and had discussion with the former consultant Mr Hugh Evans, who has always been a strong advocate for services in Llanelli.
Part of our discussions with Mr Martin and Mr Purt focussed on specific services – and after considerable lobbying, we understand there will be some progress on cataract surgery and on improving the efficiency and convenience of blood tests. Then we questioned them on what the timescale is for publicising their plans for the future provision of services, and, most importantly, what opportunities there will be for local residents to have their say, and we were told that the plans are likely to be made public towards the end of October.
This week we are pleased to welcome the new Welsh Government Health Minister Lesley Griffiths AM to Llanelli to visit Prince Philip Hospital and see for herself the facilities there and have an opportunity to speak to staff. We will take every opportunity to lobby the Minster and the Health Board to keep the full range of services at Prince Philip Hospital.