Pembrokeshire Assembly Members Paul Davies and Angela Burns have expressed their anger and frustration at the news that Hywel Dda University Health Board plans to reduce the hours of the paediatric ambulatory care unit (PACU) at Withybush Hospital by another four hours a day. The changes would see the service open daily from 10am to 6pm instead of 10am-10pm.

Preseli Pembrokeshire Assembly Member Paul Davies said, “I’m extremely angry that the local Health Board are making plans to reduce the number of hours that the paediatric ambulatory care unit will be open at Withybush Hospital. Only a few weeks ago the Cabinet Secretary for Health made it clear in the Assembly Chamber that local families are being assured that they can continue to access services as they do now and do not need to make changes in how they access care. Well clearly the Welsh Government needs a much more robust dialogue with the Hywel Dda health board because that’s not the message that’s being heard in Pembrokeshire. Any further changes to this service would be catastrophic and the Welsh Government should urgently intervene to address this matter once and for all.”

He added, “Local people in Pembrokeshire will know that I’ve been campaigning to see our paediatric services re-established on a full-time basis and I’m extremely disappointed that some politicians are playing party politics with this very important issue, rather than standing up for families across Pembrokeshire."

Assembly Member for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire Angela Burns said, “This is a deeply concerning turn of events and goes against recent promises by the Welsh Government.”

“We've all fought long and hard to keep a broad level of services at Withybush and for services to be reinstated, this kind of situation dents public confidence and sends out the wrong message to potential and current staff.”

“I will be monitoring the service delivery to ensure this "temporary situation" really is just that.”