A petition calling for an extension to out-of-hours medical services in a Mid Wales town has been signed by nearly 1,000 people.

Mayor Joy Jones launched a campaign to persuade health bosses to provide 24-hour health provision in Newtown.

Residents currently have to travel to Welshpool to see a doctor in the evenings, weekends, or bank holidays. The service is provided by Shropdoc, which treats 600,000 patients in Powys and the Welsh Marches.

The not-for-profit company currently provides an out-of-hours general medical service at Newtown Hospital from midnight until the next morning.

But Councillor Jones’ petition, backed by Newtown Town Council, calls for Shropdoc to be based at the town’s hospital from early evening onwards.

She said: “People have to travel to Welshpool or Shrewsbury for any minor injuries or out of hours care.

“The elderly, parents with sick children and anyone who feels unwell find it difficult to travel long distances for treatment.

“Newtown has a lot of traffic problems at the moment so it is not always easy to travel the 14 miles to Welshpool in time for an appointment, especially as there is no public transport in there from Newtown in the evenings.”

Councillor Jones added that the petition had also been set up in Llanidloes, which is 27 miles away from Welshpool, and that nearly 1,000 people had signed it.

“The service for people in this area is just not good enough,” said Councillor Jones.

“There are 12,000 people in Newtown and 2,000 people in Llanidloes — why should they have to travel so far to get medical attention?”

Councillor Jones said that as soon as 1,000 people had signed the petition she would hand it to Powys Local Teaching Board with the aim of setting up talks about the current situation.

A health board spokesman said: “The THB and Shopdoc are currently looking into this issue, examining patient flows and demand in the area.

“Early indications are that the spread of service is about right.”

By Andrew Morris