News

Tumble hospital closure approved

Mynydd Mawr hospital in Tumble is to be replaced by a new facility at Llanelli’s Prince Philip hospital, the Hywel Dda Health Board has announced.

The recommendations were approved at the health board’s meeting yesterday, despite substantial opposition from local residents and politicians.

The move is set to take place over the summer as part of a major shake-up of Welsh health services.

The recommendation in the report that went before the meeting said: “The findings of the review for Mynydd Mawr Hospital showed that around half of the patients could have been cared for in a more appropriate setting such as the community if we had services available.

“However, for those patients who do need to be in hospital, they have increasingly complex needs, increasing frailty and dependency.

“We believe there can be more appropriate care by developing an alternative service at Prince Philip Hospital that would better support patients.”

The health board said: “Local politicians and political groups were generally not supportive of the closure of the hospital stating that they did not wish to see any loss of beds in the community and they were concerned at the impact on other services, particularly community care.

“The rehabilitation unit will be within a currently unused ward template so there will be no loss of current acute bed numbers.”

Tell us what you think – have your say below, or email us directly at [email protected]