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

Hywel Dda University Health Board is re-issuing advice to Pembrokeshire parents on how they can care, or access healthcare services, for unwell children in the lead up to the Christmas Bank Holidays. The vast majority of unwell children are cared for at home by their families when they are unwell, and general advice on how to manage common childhood illness can be found on the NHS Direct website www.nhsdirect.wales.nhs.uk or by calling 0845 46 47. In the majority of cases, GPs and hospital Emergency Departments also care for children without needing to admit them into hospital. GP out-of-hours services are available in Pembrokeshire overnight, on weekends and Bank Holidays for urgent care and are accessed by calling your usual GP telephone number. Withybush Hospital’s Emergency and Urgent Care Unit also provides 24 hour urgent care for children with minor injuries. Clinical lead for Child and Adolecent Health Dr Simon Fountain-Polley explained: “Families generally look after their ...

Opening hours at Withybush Paediatric Ambulatory Care Unit will be changed to 10am-6pm from Monday December 5. The move comes following a decision, taken in the interests of patient safety due to a shortage of consultant paediatricians, by Hywel Dda University Health Board last week. Referrals to PACU can continue to be made up until 6pm, after which necessary discharges or transfers to Glangwili Hospital when an overnight stay in hospital is required will be made. Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Operations Joe Teape explained: “We are carefully planning this temporary change and will be spending a lot of time during the coming days finalising the activation plan and making sure that all our staff, GPs, including out-of-hours, and partners such as the Welsh Ambulance Services Trust and NHS Direct are aware and are able to appropriately advise and assist children and their families.” A task and finish group with clinicians and managers is also being set up to closely monitor the ...

Hywel Dda University Health Board has agreed on the grounds of safety issues, to temporarily reduce the opening hours of the Paediatric Ambulatory Care Unit (PACU) at Withybush Hospital, but has not agreed to any longer term changes to services for children. At a meeting of full health board on Thursday November 24, the Board agreed the recommendation to temporarily reduce the opening hours from 10am-10pm by four hours a day to 10am-6pm in light of the reduced availability of consultant paediatricians. However, they did not agree to the recommendation to permanently merge the consultant overnight rota with Carmarthenshire. They did accept this was necessary temporarily due to reduced availability of consultant level staff. This will mean if there is a paediatric emergency out-of-hours at Withybush Hospital, the on-call paediatric consultants in Glangwili Hospital will offer remote advice to emergency and anaesthetic staff at Withybush. Whilst board members agreed the commitment to retu...

Members of Hywel Dda University Health Board will discuss temporary changes to the opening hours of the Paediatric Ambulatory Care Unit (PACU) at Withybush Hospital, whilst there are fewer consultant paediatricians available, at a full health board meeting on Thursday November 24. The issue has emerged due to a combination of long standing difficulties in recruiting paediatric consultants across the UK and an exacerbation locally due to the coinciding retirement of one Pembrokeshire paediatric consultant, along with maternity leave of another. Doctors, nurses, hospital managers and the Executive Team have been in discussion about how to best serve children and families in Pembrokeshire by doing all that is possible to maintain the Paediatric Ambulatory Care Unit (PACU) at Withybush Hospital whilst there are fewer consultant paediatricians available. To do nothing is a risk. The health board’s prolonged attempts at substantive and locum recruitment have been unsuccessful and agency cons...

Hywel Dda University Health Board is restating its commitment to maintain the current opening hours of the Paediatric Ambulatory Care Unit (PACU) at Withybush Hospital from 10am-10pm, as they are now - although it is facing renewed and significant workforce challenges at consultant level. There are long standing difficulties in recruiting paediatric consultants across the UK, and there are vacancies in all Hywel Dda hospitals, with continued efforts to recruit into them. There is a particular problem in Pembrokeshire during the next few months as a retirement, maternity leave and annual leave requirement coincide. PACU at Withybush Hosital, in Haverfordwest, is currently open 10am – 10pm and remains open as usual this week. The University Health Board is reassuring local families that they can continue to access services as they do now and need make no changes to how they access care. The health board has appointed a temporary locum consultant, and continues to try to attract more...