A MAN from Prestatyn has criticised the closing of former North Wales community hospitals without its proposed replacement ready to open.
The Welsh Government announced in 2013 that the North Denbighshire Community Hospital ,would be built in Rhyl, but the project has yet to reach completion.
It was hoped that work on the hospital would have begun by December 2021, subject to capital funding being released by the Welsh Government.
It was earmarked to be built on the site of the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Rhyl, with the aim of replacing services previously delivered there and at Prestatyn’s Chatsworth House community hospital.
Michael Hosgood, 86, said to close the Prestatyn hospital in 2013, as well as similar sites such as HM Stanley in St Asaph in 2012, without a ready-made replacement, is “absolute lunacy” and “Mickey Mouse”.
He said: “I think all of the Betsi Cadwaladr hospitals are now running out of beds; they certainly were during the pandemic.
“It’s absolute lunacy that they closed down their community hospitals where people who are not so ill, or who are elderly and had nobody to look after them, could have been put out of normal hospital care for recuperation.
“The stupid part about it is that they closed them down, and sold off the land, before a suitable replacement hospital was available. It’s Mickey Mouse – you don’t close down hospitals, with beds that can be used, without a replacement.
“Prestatyn wasn’t the only one to be closed; it seemed to be going on throughout the health board’s region. It’s just not just Prestatyn, but Prestatyn is what concerns me because I live there.
“I want people’s attention to be drawn to the stupidity of it all. Only an idiot would close viable hospital beds before a suitable replacement was available.
“It’s still not been sorted out, and the people suffering are the staff at Betsi, because they’re under-resourced, and the patients in the area.”
In January, a Prestatyn woman signed a petition urging the Welsh Government to agree to the proposal of the new Rhyl community hospital as soon as possible.
But this was rejected after it did not collect enough signatures to be referred to the Petitions Committee.
Services at the new hospital are set to include community beds, a same-day minor injuries and illness service, a treatment zone, and outpatient therapy and intravenous therapy services.
In November 2019, Kier was appointed to manage all construction and planning of the hospital, which is set to cost roughly £64million.
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Mr Hosgood added: “I’m 86, and lost my wife two years ago, so I’m completely on my own, really. I have no close family in the area. Fortunately, at the moment, I’m in pretty good health.
“My wife suffered a stroke and was cared for in the stroke unit at St Asaph, which was very, very good. It was an ideal location and situation there.
“But when it closed down, she ended up having to go to Glan Clwyd (in Rhyl), which was not ideal – the place was too small.
“I got on to Betsi then, asking why didn’t they move the outpatient department from St Asaph that was closing down and was in a portable building?
“They said it couldn’t be moved, but two weeks later, it grew its own wings and flew to Abergele.
“Having had to wait four years with Betsi for a hernia operation quite a number of years ago, I then decided that was never going to happen to me again, so I took out private health insurance, which I’ve still got.
“But if I was taken into hospital, and they needed to discharge me, there is nobody who could look after me.
“I’m just one of many people in the area in this position. What has happened to all of the money that Betsi got from the sale of the land at Chatsworth House and from the sale of HM Stanley in St Asaph?
“It’s not just the delay (of the new community hospital opening), but why were these facilities closed down and sold off before a suitable replacement was ready? This just isn’t the way to do business.”
Darren Millar, MS for Clwyd West, added his frustrations at the lack of progress made in the nine years since plans for the hospital were announced.
Mr Millar said: “The Welsh Government needs to pull its finger out and get this new facility up and running.
“It’s been nine years since it was promised and we are yet to see a single brick laid.
“The people of north Denbighshire were promised a new facility and Welsh Labour ministers must deliver on that promise.
“Their failure to do so is contributing to the enormous pressure on Glan Clwyd Hospital and putting patients at risk.”
James Davies, MP for Vale of Clwyd, recalled how, in 2012, as a county councillor, he stressed that Chatsworth House “should not close under any circumstances unless and until an alternative equivalent facility is open”.
With that in mind, Dr Davies said: “Mr Hosgood is right to highlight the fact that the situation we now find ourselves in is partly as a result of the above not having been followed.”
In May, he wrote again to the Welsh health minister, Eluned Morgan MS, asking for an update on the proposed new community healthcare scheme at the Royal Alexandra Hospital site.
He received a response from the Minister stating that, as a result of "significant pressures being experienced across NHS Wales schemes", "difficult choices will need to, and are having to be made".
Dr Davies said: "This is an extremely concerning response. This hospital was promised to the people of North Denbighshire by the then-health minister, and now First Minister, Mark Drakeford, back in 2013.
"Since that time, there has been delay after delay and now we are being told there is a chance it could not go ahead. This is not acceptable.
"Ysbyty Glan Clwyd is under immense pressure and struggling to cope. This new facility in Rhyl would ease some of the pressure and provide people with health services they can better depend on."
Since receiving the letter, Dr Davies has obtained health capital budget figures for both Wales and England for comparison.
These show that, for 2022-23, England plans to spend £185 per head on NHS capital projects, compared to £106 per head in Wales.
The Barnett formula currently gives Wales a 20 per cent funding premium.
Dr Davies added: "For years, I, and my Conservative colleagues here in North Wales, have been applying pressure on the Welsh Government to move this development forward.
"Despite this extremely disappointing and worrying latest development, I will continue fighting for a North Denbighshire Hospital.
“It is a much-needed facility, and the Welsh Government should be prioritising this development, not talking about potentially scrapping it.
"It is vital that the Welsh Government get their priorities right - a Royal Alex is what we need, not an unjustified, unworkable and costly scheme to create a blanket 20mph national speed limit."
Dr Chris Stockport, executive director for transformation, strategic planning and commissioning at BCUHB, said: “We are working closely with Welsh Government regarding the Royal Alexandra Hospital.
"There has been a significant increase in community health care provision in line with new models of care over a number of years.
“We know that most people would like to remain in their own homes for as long as possible, and to be able to return home as soon as it is safe to do so.
"We recognise there is a national shortage of care workers across both health and social care providers, but it’s particularly challenging in North Wales.
“And despite the health board and our partners doing everything we can to recruit, we need more people in these positions and quickly.
"We are working closely with our local authority partners and other stakeholders to improve access and increase the range of services available.
“We would urge anyone who has an interest to work for the care sector to contact their local authority, or visit wecare.wales to explore the opportunities available."
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “A decision has yet to be made on the Royal Alexandra Hospital scheme, but there are significant capital cost pressures on current schemes.”
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