Part of 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 3:13 pm on 25 April 2018.
Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for the answer, and I will of course participate fully, as I'm already doing, in that conversation, but I think the people of west Wales deserve excellent healthcare delivered at a reasonable distance, and this includes the best healthcare possible, including urgent care and teaching hospitals. Bronglais in Aberystwyth looks after the northern part of the Hywel Dda area, and is in all scenarios being kept as it is. The question is: how do we deal with those aims and ambitions in Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire?
Now, you know that the options put forward by Hywel Dda involve a new hospital, potentially, in that area. if we're going to have a genuine conversation about really revolutionising our community beds, our mental health and our hospital services in west Wales, then we need to understand that this is a genuine consultation based on understanding that this can happen. That means that, since we have not had major hospital investment in west Wales for the last 30 years, a new hospital is a potential way of delivering excellent healthcare. So, in order to ensure that this consultation is not a sham to hide further cuts, will you commit now that if the outcome of this consultation leads to Hywel Dda recommending a new hospital in the Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire areas, you as Welsh Government will work with Hywel Dda to realise that ambition?