3. Urgent Question: Paediatric Services at Withybush Hospital

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:32 pm on 22 November 2016.

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Photo of Joyce Watson Joyce Watson Labour 2:32, 22 November 2016

Cabinet Secretary, I don’t—or I would hope that there isn’t anybody in this room who would accept the health board’s decision to take the appropriate action in this case. Because in this case, as things are now existing on the ground, it seems that, sadly, patient safety, which has to be the No. 1 priority, could be put at risk. And that is simply as a consequence of the recruitment problems that several people have mentioned here this afternoon.

So, my question is this: I want to know whether there has been a conversation—I’ve certainly written to Hywel Dda, and spoken to them—about recruiting that paediatric consultant to the paediatric ambulatory care unit. But I think there’s also a wider picture that needs addressing here, and you’ve slightly alluded to it, and that is the care that happens within the community, because an awful lot of the children who are accessing care in Withybush hospital are children who need long-term care. And, very often, it’s about crisis management of their long-term condition that sees them arrive at Withybush hospital in an untimely and unscheduled fashion. I remember, when we were both at the paediatric unit in Withybush, that there was talk about moving forward into delivering that care, very often in the homes of those children, so they don’t need to travel at all. So, I think we need to widen the debate. I think that people are hugely concerned, and mostly it’s the parents of the children who I’ve just described. So, if you have anything further to add to that, I would be most grateful.