Home > News > MP continues fight for A&E

Nia Griffith MP has written to Professor Mark Drakeford, the new Health Minister in the Welsh Government, to emphasise once again the need to keep accident and emergency Services at Prince Philip Hospital.

“Now that the decision about A&E has once again been referred to the Welsh Government, I felt it was important to stress to the new Minister just how vital it is to keep a doctor run A&E department at Prince Philip Hospital. Seeing ambulances queuing up outside Morriston and Glangwili is a stark reminder of why we need to keep a proper doctor-led A & E here in Llanelli. As the town with the biggest population it makes sense to keep the services here, rather than transporting more patients further away with all the additional risk, cost and inconvenience that may involve. I have made that absolutely clear to the Minister. ”

“I have also drawn his attention to the fact that last October Physicians from Prince Philip Hospital wrote a letter which they not only highlight the fact that their training of junior medical trainees was the best in Wales this last year, but they state that they are not prepared to support a nurse-led A&E and that the Hywel Dda Health Board proposals are UNSAFE.  They quote the Longley report as stating that the service required to support an emergency department can consist of onsite 24 hour access to acute medicine, Level 2 critical care, non-interventional CCU, essential services laboratory, diagnostics radiology, together with 24-hour local multi-hospital access (not necessarily onsite) to emergency surgery, trauma and orthopaedics, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, mental health, supervised surgery and interventional radiology, and that this is precisely what is available at PPH now.”