Minutes:
(i)
Councillor Glyn Daniels
took the opportunity to thank the Care Scrutiny Committee, on behalf of the Ffestiniog Memorial Hospital Defence Committee and the
residents of Blaenau for the opportunity to submit their evidence to get health
facilities back in Blaenau Ffestiniog.
(ii)
On behalf of the Ffestiniog Memorial Hospital
Defence Committee, Mr Geraint Vaughan Jones guided Members via slides through
the background and evidence of how it was decided to close Ffestiniog
Memorial Hospital. Attention was drawn to the additional responsibility on
Gwynedd Council and the Health Board under the Well-being and Social Care Act
2014 to give serious consideration to the disorder caused by the Health Board
over the last five years as a result of this decision.
A decision
was made by the Health Board in 2008 to close Blaenau Ffestiniog
Memorial Hospital and to construct a new building that would offer a less
effective service than the residents of Blaenau Ffestiniog
and the area had previously received, and less than what is offered in much
smaller villages than Blaenau within Meirionnydd.
It was
emphasised that the residents of Blaenau Ffestiniog
could not forget the past when it was resolved to close the Memorial Hospital in
order to save money.
He proceeded
to explain that prior to the establishment of the Betsi
Cadwaladr University Health Board, the Memorial
Hospital was one of the best hospitals and was a memorial hospital for 353
young men who lost their lives in the Great War. In 2012, there were 12 beds in regular use,
experienced nursing staff, permanent GP practice with 4 doctors, surgeries
two/three times a week in Llan Ffestiniog
and Dolwyddelan; physiotherapy clinic, x-ray unit in
regular use by the doctors and all of this for a cost of £800,000 per annum.
When the
Health Board voted to close the Memorial Hospital all the services outlined
above disappeared overnight even the dependable GPs service that was available
previously, and this despite every protest and local petition. By today, it was noted that the Blaenau Ffestiniog medical practice was dependent on 'locums' who
barely knew their patients, and on some days only one locum was available. It was obvious from the Health Board's
decision that the residents of Blaenau did not deserve the same service as
other towns in Meirionnydd, and it was strongly felt that the Blaenau Ffestiniog area had been dealt with unfavourably.
Attention
was drawn to the fact that the First Minister had stated in 2012 that no
hospital would be under the threat of closure, however, the Health Board
produced the proposed structure despite what was said by the First
Minister.
By creating
the well-being areas in accordance with the Act, the intention of the Health
Board was to create a hospital hub in Dolgellau, retain and improve Tywyn Memorial Hospital, build Ysbyty
Alltwen in place of Penrhyndeudraeth
Hospital, retain Bryn Beryl Hospital and retain Ysbyty
Gwynedd in Bangor. However, in the
context of the Welsh uplands, the decision was to close Ffestiniog
Memorial Hospital and do away with the Minor Injuries Unit, X-ray Unit, two
surgeries and it was stressed to the Scrutiny Committee that this was the only
area in Gwynedd without a nursing home.
Back in 2012
the aim was "what is important is that local people make local decisions
about healthcare locally' but it was emphasised that there was no local
agreement to this.
Reference
was made to the petitions signed by hundreds of individuals against the closure
of the Memorial Hospital and the signatories included 5 doctors, 2 nurses
representing hospital staff, 4 county councillors, Chair of the Town Council,
Secretary of Dolwyddelan Community Council, Chairs of
Trawsfynydd and Gellilydan
community councils, Chair of Cwmni Seren, Chairs of the Friends of the Memorial Hospital and
the Defence Committee but the petitions had been ignored by the Health
Board. Reference was made to the
response of the Health Board's Chair to the petition, which was an insult to
the intelligence of the residents of Blaenau and the vicinity.
In 2015, a
referendum was proposed and the the vote to conduct
this was unanimous. 52% of the constituency voted with 99.6% in favour of
re-opening the memorial hospital at Blaenau Ffestiniog
with beds for inpatients, minor injuries unit and an x-ray service, however,
this was totally ignored.
Reference
was made to a list of health services available in Dolgellau, Tywyn and Ffestiniog and
attention was drawn to the fact that the Blaenau area received 15 fewer
services than Dolgellau and 13 fewer than Tywyn -
bearing in mind that the population of Blaenau in the 2011 census was 4,875
compared to 3,264 in Tywyn and 2,688 in Dolgellau.
Attention
was drawn to a page produced by the Health Board, dated July 2017, that listed
up to 36 new services that were available in the Memorial Centre but it was
hastened to add that 23 of these existed in Blaenau Ffestiniog
prior to re-organisation. It was asked
who would be responsible for paying for these services.
Reference
was made to the Health Board's earlier presentation during this meeting, where
they justified closing Ffestiniog Memorial Hospital
and it was asked why the Health Board conducted a survey in Ffestiniog
only, why target the third largest town in Gwynedd, an area that has suffered
from unemployment and the loss of services.
The survey was not conducted in other areas and therefore it was
strongly felt that the area had been deliberately unfavourably treated. It was
emphasised that the Defence Committee did not begrudge hospitals in other
places, but they asked why did Blaenau Ffestiniog and
the Uplands of Wales not deserve the same services considering how the area had
suffered.
An appeal
was made to get the Memorial Hospital back and it would be a small matter to
adapt one of the rooms in the new centre to create a ward for the residents of
the Uplands of Wales.
Supporting documents: