Local residents turn out in Llandrindod Wells as new plans reveal scale of threat to local hospital

Around 100 people attended a public meeting in Llandrindod Wells on Thursday, just 24 hours after new health board papers revealed the scale of proposed cuts facing the town's hospital.

The meeting was organised by the Welsh Liberal Democrats as part of their ongoing campaign to protect community hospitals across Powys and follows large public meetings held in Ystradgynlais, Builth Wells, Welshpool and Llanidloes.

Residents discussed newly published papers from Powys Teaching Health Board which set out two potential options for the future of physical-health inpatient services across the county.

Under one option, inpatient beds would be retained at Brecon, Llandrindod Wells and Newtown. However, under the second, services would be concentrated at just Brecon and Newtown, meaning Llandrindod Wells would lose its physical-health inpatient beds entirely.

The papers also reveal that Llandrindod Wells would retain a Minor Illness and Injury Unit under only one of the two options being considered.

Separate proposals would see adult and older adult inpatient mental-health services consolidated onto a single site in the Bronllys/Brecon area, resulting in the loss of existing mental-health inpatient provision in Llandrindod Wells.

Across Powys, the proposals could see physical-health inpatient capacity fall from the current 146 beds across eight community hospitals to as few as 60 beds at only two sites.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have accused the health board of “hoodwinking” residents after the papers showed that a wider range of configurations had previously been considered but discarded before the formal public consultation.

The party says residents are now effectively being offered a choice between different versions of major cuts, rather than being given the option of protecting the existing network of community hospital beds.

Llandrindod Wells South Powys County Councillor Lauren D’Silva, said: “What is clear from the meeting is the love and respect our residents have for Llandrindod hospital.

“We know it has the potential to provide a greater range of services and to take pressure off general hospitals. PTHB’s plan to cut the level of healthcare that can be provided here in Llandrindod makes no sense and is worrying for everyone.”

Llandrindod Wells North County Councillor Jake Berriman added; “Representing a ward and town with one of the oldest populations in Wales, and with the percentage of those over the age of 80 set to grow by almost 90% over the next 20 years, cutting hospital beds for those that need looking after here rather than in Herefordshire, just doesn’t feel like a sustainable long term option to me.

“We definitely need to be doing more to help people to live well and stay healthy in their homes longer, and that needs properly funding by the health service, but given the numbers I am seeing cutting beds and services available within our communities is the exact opposite of what is needed.”

Llandrindod Wells South County Councillor Pete Roberts, said: “A simple show of hands last night brought into question the whole evidence base on which the MIU changes are based. While the business case claims all mid Powys residents would go to Brecon or Newtown about 90% of the audience said they would go straight to Hereford. This raises serious questions about the research behind these proposals and the viability of what is being planned.”

Welsh Liberal Democrat MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe David Chadwick said: "There was a real sense of anger and disbelief at what we have discovered in the last 24 hours from residents in Llandrindod.

"People were told they would have a genuine say over the future of their hospitals. We now know that the Health Board has already narrowed down the options to different versions of major cuts before residents have even been formally consulted.

"For Llandrindod, the stakes are enormous. One option would remove the town's physical-health inpatient beds altogether; its Minor Illness and Injury Unit is only protected under one option, and separate proposals would remove existing mental-health inpatient provision.

"In the worst-case scenario, the entirety of Radnorshire could be stripped of the majority of its health services.

"The Plaid Cymru Welsh Government needs to intervene. Powys needs properly funded rural healthcare, not a consultation that asks communities to choose which services they are prepared to lose. Myself, Jane Dodds MS and our local councillors will continue to make that case.

"The turnout tonight shows that people in Llandrindod Wells are ready to stand up for their hospital, and we will be standing alongside them."