Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

Press release from Mid Wales Healthcare Collaborative: A series of community events to discuss the progress of new developments in healthcare in Mid Wales will begin in Aberystwyth next month. These events are the Mid Wales Healthcare Collaborative’s third and final round this year and will enable the Mid Wales Healthcare Collaborative to inform residents of the progress that has been made in the last few months. Also the events will provide local people with the opportunity to comment on our work to date. The first event will be held in the Morlan Centre in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion on Friday 11th November, with sessions at 2pm and 6pm to optimise opportunities for local people to attend. This event will provide an opportunity for informal, relaxed discussions around Mental Health Services in the area, In Hospital Services at Bronglais General Hospital, Primary and Community Services as well as Health and Well-being. Representatives of the Collaborative team, local Community Health...

Patients living in north Ceredigion will soon be able to take part in a community-based teledermatology pilot which will allow them to be treated by consultants based over 100 miles away in Cardiff. The Mid Wales Healthcare Collaborative and Hywel Dda University Health Board are pleased to announce the launch of a six-month dermatology pilot, which will allow patients to be seen by consultants without having to travel outside their community. Instead, patients will be seen at one of seven GP practices involved in the pilot, which make up the north Ceredigion cluster. All have been issued with cameras to develop telehealth services across Mid Wales. The images will then be sent on to Cardiff for consultant dermatologists to advise GPs as to how to treat skin conditions. If successful, the scheme – which is currently used in Cardiff and Birmingham – will be further extended across mid Wales and the Hywel Dda University Health Board area. The service potentially allows specialists to com...

Aberystwyth University has launched a new Centre for Excellence in Rural Health Research. The announcement was made at the launch of the Centre for Excellence in Rural Healthcare by Welsh Government Minister for Health and Social Services, Professor Mark Drakeford AM. The new research centre will see Aberystwyth University work closely with the Mid Wales Healthcare Collaborative and Hywel Dda University Health Board to address some of the unique challenges of delivering healthcare in a rural area such as mid Wales. The Centre will also promote and support an attractive research environment for clinical staff in partner health organisations. Dr Rachel Rahman, Director of the Centre for Excellence in Rural Health Research said: “Delivery of healthcare to rural populations is challenging, not only in the UK but in developed and developing countries around the world. Attempting to address the unique challenges of rural healthcare through the simplistic extension of urban approaches is no...

Dr Sue Fish has been appointed to the role of Clinical Programme Director for Hywel Dda University Health Board (UHB) in the Mid Wales Healthcare Collaborative set up to bring about changes outlined in the independent study into the future provision of health services in the region. The study by the Welsh Institute of Health and Social Care (WIHSC) at the University of South Wales spent nine months listening to the views of patients, the public and NHS staff across Mid Wales. The study, led by Professor Marcus Longley, made a number of recommendations about the future provision of health services in Mid Wales. Following its publication, the Welsh NHS organisations providing services in Mid Wales agreed to set up the Mid Wales Healthcare Collaborative to bring about changes set out in the report. The collaborative was launched by the Minister for Health and Social Care, Prof Mark Drakeford at the Mid Wales Healthcare Conference in Newtown on 12th March 2015. As Clinical Programme Dire...