Welsh Lib Dems hand in 7,930-signature petition ahead of crucial Powys hospitals decision

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have handed in a petition signed by 7,930 people opposing sweeping cuts to Powys's community hospitals, ahead of a crucial Health Board meeting on whether the proposals should proceed to formal consultation.

Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS and Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe MP David Chadwick handed the petition to Powys Teaching Health Board at their  Bronllys headquarters in the South of Powys alongside Welsh Liberal Democrat Powys councillors and campaign members from across Powys.

The petition has gathered 7,930 signatures so far, but that number is continuing to rise as paper copies are returned from communities across Powys. The Welsh Liberal Democrats have said they will keep the petition running throughout the campaign and also intend to present it to Plaid Cymru Health Minister Mabon ap Gwynfor.

Powys Teaching Health Board is meeting today to decide whether its Better Together proposals should proceed to formal public consultation.

Proposals being considered could see physical-health inpatient provision reduced from the current 146 beds across eight community hospitals to as few as 60 beds at just Brecon and Newtown.

Under both options, inpatient beds would be removed from Ystradgynlais, Welshpool, Llanidloes, Machynlleth, Knighton and Bronllys, while one option would also remove beds from Llandrindod Wells.

The proposals would also concentrate urgent care at fewer sites and consolidate adult and older adult inpatient mental-health services onto a single site in the Bronllys/Brecon area.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats say that with thousands signing the petition and large crowds attending public meetings across Powys, now is the time for the Plaid Cymru Welsh Government to intervene.

The party argues that the Welsh Government holds the purse strings for the Welsh NHS and must provide Powys Teaching Health Board with the money it needs to avoid sweeping reductions in rural healthcare.

They have also challenged Plaid Cymru over its pre-election promise to introduce a “rural premium” for public services, designed to recognise the additional costs of delivering services across rural communities.

The Liberal Democrats say Powys is exactly the kind of area that should benefit from such an approach and have questioned why, instead, communities are facing the prospect of losing hospital beds and seeing services centralised further away from them.

The petition follows a series of Welsh Liberal Democrat public meetings across Powys, including around 500 people in Llanidloes, hundreds in Ystradgynlais and around 100 each in Builth Wells and Llandrindod Wells.

Commenting, Welsh Liberal Democrat MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe David Chadwick said:

"Nearly 8,000 people have already signed this petition and more signatures are still coming in. Combined with the extraordinary turnouts at our public meetings, the strength of opposition across Powys could hardly be clearer.

"But this isn't just about the Health Board. The Plaid Cymru Welsh Government holds the purse strings for our NHS, and now is the time for the Health Minister to intervene.

"You cannot expect a rural health board to make enormous savings and then stand back when it proposes savage cuts to the services people rely on. If Ministers want these cuts avoided, they need to give Powys the resources to avoid them.

"Plaid Cymru promised a rural premium for public services before the election. Powys is one of the most rural parts of Wales, so where is it when we need it?

"This petition doesn't end today. We'll keep collecting signatures and we'll be taking them directly to the Health Minister too."

Welsh Liberal Democrat MS for Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd Jane Dodds said:

"These 7,930 signatures represent thousands of people who are deeply worried about the future of healthcare in their communities.

"We've listened to residents in packed halls across Powys, and the message has been the same everywhere: people will not accept seeing their community hospitals hollowed out.

"The Plaid Cymru Welsh Government cannot wash its hands of this. It controls NHS funding in Wales and needs to give Powys the money required to protect these services.

"Plaid Cymru promised rural Wales that the extra cost of delivering public services in communities like ours would be recognised. This is their opportunity to prove that promise meant something.

“We will be taking this petition to Mabon ap Gwynfor as well. As Health Minister, he needs to listen to the thousands of people across Powys asking him to step in and protect their local health services.”

ENDS