Plaid Cymru Dwyfor Meirionnydd The Rt Hon. Liz Saville Roberts MP and Mabon ap Gwynfor MS

Plaid Cymru Senedd Member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd and Health and Care spokesperson, Mabon ap Gwynfor has called on the First Minister to explain to his constituents what action is being taken to reopen the inpatient ward at Tywyn Hospital.  

Speaking in the Senedd, Mr ap Gwynfor reminded the First Minister that there has been no progress in recruiting nurses to staff the inpatient ward since she visited the community hospital as Cabinet Secretary for Health two years ago.

Mr ap Gwynfor said that constituents of his living in Bro Dysynni and Tywyn were regularly being sent to Dolgellau and Bronglais hospitals to access the care and treatment they need given that BCUHB has failed to recruit new nursing staff.   

Speaking in the Senedd, Mabon ap Gwynfor MS said:

You will be aware of the difficulties in Bro Dysynni, the Tywyn area, in south Meirionnydd. I was grateful to you for your visit when you were Cabinet Secretary for health, and you visited the hospital some two years ago, but since your visit, nothing has changed. The Dyfi ward of the hospital remains closed and that is because of a shortage of nurses and the failure of the health board to secure new nursing staff; despite the Kerala programme and the fact that there are nurses from Kerala that came to Dolgellau, we haven't seen adequate numbers of nurses in Tywyn. The department remains closed. But there are patients from Bro Dysynni and Tywyn who continue to be in Bronglais hospital in Aberystwyth, there are others in Dolgellau hospital, so the demand is there locally. We need to see action in terms of getting more nurses here in Wales, trained here, for our community hospitals. So, what commitment can you give me today that we will see those nurses being employed in Tywyn?

In response, the First Minister said:

I was aware that that ward in Tywyn Hospital had closed, and that more beds are available now in Dolgellau, and hopefully, they will help the situation. I do know that the health board is very eager to reopen the Dyfi ward. The problem is that recruitment. It's not like they haven't been trying; they have been trying to recruit people. That's why I think it is important that we do recruit locally, and the fact that we have a nursing school now in Ceredigion, that, hopefully, will help, but of course it takes some time for them to go through the system. Also, we are recruiting in areas such as Kerala, and hopefully that will help us to recruit people to help our services. It's not an easy situation; they have been trying very hard to get people to work there and they're very eager to reopen that ward.

Mabon ap Gwynfor MS added:

Back in 2013 the Welsh Labour government welcomed a £5m investment to Tywyn Community Hospital. Announcing the investment, the government said an increase in bed numbers and the integration of several services will enable more people to be cared for closer to home in an environment which is fit for purpose. More than a decade on and things have taken a dramatic turn for the worse. We lost the Maternity Unit, and the inpatient ward remains closed due to a crisis in recruiting nursing staff.  I have repeatedly asked the government what steps are being taken to support the health board to recruit nurses to Tywyn and to north Wales so that my constituents can be cared for closer to home and in an environment which is fit for purpose. We have seen scant progress to address this chronic shortage of nursing staff in south Meirionnydd, all the while patients are suffering. The government need to act and as the Regional Senedd Member for the area, (Mid and West Wales), I expect the First Minister to have a better grasp of the severity of the situation.