This goes against their assurances to us all, only a few months ago, that the unit would be covered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the foreseeable future.
We have been assured that the Acute Medical Assessment Unit (AMAU) will continue to provide a service 24 / 7 a number of times.
Now it would seem that this proposal is not about money but about the lack of General Practitioner Cover and without that, the Emergency Nurse Practitioners feel too exposed to make safe decisions for the few serious cases that present themselves to the MIU.
This finding has been backed up by a medical inspection a few months ago stating that the service was unsafe during the night due to the severe lack of cover by the GPs.
Instead of addressing the issue and keeping the service functioning the Management has instead decided to take the easy way out and remove the overnight service.
SOSPPAN Chair, Deryk Cundy, stated that “This is the same excuse that has been used time after time to relocate services to other areas rather than provide a safe service at PPH. Removing services 19 miles away to Glangwilli Hospital is totally and utterly unacceptable and yet again will hurt the frail and the vulnerable the most.”
How can we trust that the service will be re-introduced in 6 months?”
“It is simple for us.”
“This is our Red Line”
“The reduction of services at PPH must stop now.”
Other questions present themselves and answers are awaited:
If the AMAU is open with doctors, why cannot these doctors cover the rare occurrences when a severe case presents itself in the MIU?
Why hasn’t the proposed links to Morriston Hospital been agreed after many years of negotiations so that people are much closer, if the cannot be treated at PPH.
Why cannot a triage system be implemented to push patients to the right section?
If it is a fact that the MIU and the AMAU cannot cope, should not the A&E be re-instated to PPH as we have, by far the largest population in the immediate catchment area?
SOSPPAN rejects this removal of service, which is not so much about making PPH a safe place to be treated but rather an abrogation by the Management, to provide a safe local service and consequently putting patients lives at risk by demanding they travel much further for diagnosis and treatment.
Finally if the requirement is for “a breathing space” to come up with an idea that re-instates the MIU overnight sustainably, why oh why cannot a temporary fix be implemented, to keep the department and unit a working overnight service until a sustainable solution is found and implemented?
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