11 hours Ago By Dylan Davies
TWO Powys councillors have launched a charter which they say will create ‘a bold and sensible call for better healthcare in mid Wales’. The charter has been revealed by Glantwymyn county councillor and Plaid Cymru group leader in Powys, Cllr Elwyn Vaughan and Cllr Joy Jones, the Powys Poverty Champion, who say the current system is failing patients across mid Wales. Creating the Powys Patients Health Charter, they said: “After listening to patients, staff and paramedics we have prepared this Health Charter as a positive constructive attempt to highlight some of the challenges that face our communities and of the range of actions that need to happen to make things better.
“Over the coming months we will be highlighting these needs, pressing those in authority and raising awareness of the issues and working with residents, after all our residents deserve action. “Today we publish the first phase of proposed action points and will be working with patients and our communities in expanding on these in the coming weeks. Over time we intend to propose a range of positive actions which will put the health of our communities first and alleviate some of the concerns that exist at present.
“Step by step we can work together and put our residents first.” Among the solutions put forward are to protect and improve stroke services at Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth and to introduce a dedicated hospital transfer ambulance at Bronglais to prevent unnecessary strain on community ambulances. On stroke services, the charter says: “Bronglais Hospital serves a vast area, yet it’s stroke unit remains vulnerable.
Services must be protected and expanded, ensuring rapid response, specialist care, and rehabilitation resources to give patients the best chance of recovery.” The charter also calls for improved awareness and access to NHS 111 Wales, saying Many patients do not know how to access NHS 111 Wales, leaving them without vital medical advice. It also calls for action to tackle Welsh Ambulance Shortages and A&E Delays - Ambulances wait hours outside hospitals, unable to offload patients due to A&E bottlenecks.
The charter adds: “Emergency care must be expanded, hospital discharge processes streamlined, and staffing levels increased to prevent these life-threatening delays.” It also call for a stop to wastage of NHS appointments, saying a robust system must be implemented to reassign missing slots, ensuring resources are used efficiently. The charter also calls for a North Powys Health and Wellbeing Campus in Newtown to be built without delay.
There is also a call to strengthen community hospitals to reduce overcrowding, saying: “District General Hospitals are overwhelmed, with patients stuck in beds due to social care failures. “Community hospitals must be properly funded and equipped to support recovery, ensuring that beds in major hospitals are freed up and ambulance queues eliminated.” The final point on the charter is to replicate out-of-hours medication access models for rural patients who struggle to access urgent medication when pharmacies are closed.
The successful Dolgellau out-of-hours medication access model must be replicated across market towns, the charter adds..
