Petition Halt any loss of beds, facilities and Community Hospital closures in Powys review of rural healthcare
Closing all but 60 of our GP led community hospital beds in Powys, which has no general hospital or hospice, is not the way to provide care. Rural healthcare needs a radical rethink, not cuts.
I call on the Senedd and the Health Minister to instigate a full inquiry and debate on rural healthcare provision and delivery and to ensure that there is no change in the number of beds, services, or hospitals in Powys before this is undertaken.
We always need to plan for the future in health and social care. Prevention is better than a cure and we all want care closer to home, to live independently in our own homes and to get emergency and general hospital care when we need it.
More details
Powys Teaching Health Board (PTHB) is in financial trouble
https://herald.wales/mid-wales/powys/powys-health-board-records-33m-deficit-despite-delivering-savings-targets/.
Whilst prevention will help reduce costs in the long run, PTHB's short term solution seems to be to reduce to just 60 beds in Powys and to close Community Hospitals
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9w0jj2lgn4o.
There is not a district general hospital in Powys. In this context closing existing local services means more travel, unattended appointments, worsening health, more emergency admissions, more NHS cost and poorer population health
We need a radical rethink of rural healthcare and no more "slash and burn" to meet financial targets. Our health comes first!
The "Better Together" summary is below
https://pthb.nhs.wales/about-us/better-together/
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