Part of 2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport – in the Senedd at 2:49 pm on 15 June 2016.
Thank you for the two questions. Yes, I’ll be happy to arrange a convenient time to visit both hospitals and to meet staff in the midwifery units. On your specific point about the dedicated ambulance vehicle, this was an important part of providing confidence about the service to make sure that there was emergency transfer, if needed, to take women and their babies to Glangwili. In many ways, I am pleased that it has been used less than anticipated because that underlines and underscores the fact that safe care is being provided in that midwife-led unit. Over 200 babies were born in that midwife-led unit in Withybush in the last calendar year: women and their babies safely delivered with high-quality care. That’s real praise for the midwives themselves. I also wanted to praise the paramedics, who are not sitting with their feet up and having a cup of tea when they are not being used to transfer people to Glangwili. They are actually undertaking work within the hospital in different teams, using their skills in a way that benefits the whole service. So, it is a really good example of the way integration can work in the planning of the service. I will definitely take up the issue and have a conversation with Hywel Dda health board and the Welsh ambulance trust to look at the future of that service on a more sustained footing.