If you don't live in Rhondda
Cynon Taff, or indeed South Wales, its unlikely you will have heard of the
Royal Glamorgan hospital in Llantrisant, on the edge of the Rhondda valley.
This excellent hospital has
been an unexpected part of our lives for the past five years and we hope, will
continue to be for a very long time.
Both our children were born
there, I received excellent ante and post natal care there,
my daughter Seren has been treated in the A&E department more
times than I like to remember (unfortunately for Seren clumsiness
is definitely something she's inherited from her mother!), including
a 3 week stay last year in traction after breaking her femur.
Seren did and now Rhydian does
attend the absolutely excellent Building Blocks crèche (run by the amazing Sue
Taylor and her wonderful team - but that's another story!) situated at the
hospital and for the past three years, I have also had
the privilege of Chairing the Maternity Services Liaison Committee
(MSLC) for Cwm Taf, focusing largely on maternity care in the Royal Glamorgan
and Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr. Last
but by no means least, my brother is now a consultant anaesthetist at the
Glam.
There have been tweets, status
updates and many links shared over the past few weeks about saving the services
at the Royal Glam. But what is it all about and what does it mean for us
the local community?
Proposal:
·
Only four of the current five hospitals will be able to provide care,
emergency medicine and treatment of the more serious medical cases including
the vast majority of maternity, neonatal & children’s services.
·
Loss of A&E services
·
Loss of consultant led maternity unit, special baby care unit and
the neonatal unit
·
Children’s ward downgraded to admit only day patients.
·
All patients requiring the above services will be transferred to
Cardiff, Bridgend or Merthyr hospitals.
What this means for the community within the catchment area for
the Royal Glam:
·
The Royal Glam currently serves nearly 250,000 inhabitants of
Rhondda Cynon Taff as well as taking the overflow from Cardiff and Bridgend
hospitals all of whom will have to travel considerably further to receive
necessary care.
·
The loss of maternity, paediatrics and also A&E will have a
far-reaching and detrimental effect on the quality of patient care.
·
Without the consultant led services available within the
hospital, succession planning could fall apart and the hospital will lose key,
experienced and highly qualified staff in a range of specialties and roles,
without whom the hospital as a whole could suffer dramatically.
·
Access
and equity are big issues for many patients and relatives who come from the
poorest wards in the whole of Wales where there are numerous examples of deprivation
coupled with poor transport links and low car ownership levels thus making it
far more difficult for patients to travel further to receive the care they
need.
·
There
will be an increasing demand on ambulances to transport patients to these alternative
hospitals and with the current horrendous level of ambulance response times,
the implications are unfortunately clear and dramatic!
Examples of difficulties
faced by Cardiff (UHW)’s neonatal services demonstrate the need for additional
local hospital support not the closure of UHW’s greatest ally in terms of
assisting with patient care by taking the overflow:
What to do next:
If you feel as I and so many
others do, that the Royal Glamorgan hospital is too precious a resource and
service for us to lose, please share this but more importantly click on a link
and make your voice heard!
To support the Royal Glamorgan hospital and to fight the
proposed change, you need to tick the following boxes:
· - 5 Hospitals
· - Strongly DISAGREE with Option 3
· - YES TO OPTION 4
You can also go
to the following link to give your feedback on the proposed changes:
