Welshpool Hospital safe and new one planned for Newtown

The future of Welshpool Hospital has been assured by Powys Teaching Health Board and Newtown is set for a new hospital in five years.

PTHB chief executive Carol Shillabeer, stressed that there will be no hospital closures in Powys at a meeting of Powys County Council’s health and care scrutiny committee on Thursday.

At the meeting with councillors she answered a whole raft of questions on health issues and also moved to calm fears of any future closures.

Committee chairman, Cllr Gwilym Williams (Conservative – Disserth and Trecoed) asked: “Are the health authority committed to the community hospitals? And do you have any plans in the short or long term of closing any of those down?

Carol Shillabeer replied: “I can be clear, the save our hospital signs can be put in the bin. That’s not to say that the type of provision doesn’t’ need to change. We’re not about closing community hospitals.”

Cllr Williams, thanked her for the response and added: “It’s a clear answer to a straight questions as many people wonder. This dismisses any problems or speculation.”

Councillors from north Powys asked about services in their own area.

Ms Shillabeer said: “It gives a really lovely opportunity to flag the work that we are doing jointly on the North Powys Well-being programme.

“We are absolutely looking at the opportunities to provide those services to the north. I’m reasonably confident there is a case to have an endoscopy unit in the north and that it will be part of the well-being programme.”

Ms Shilllabeer added: “I very much hope in a few years time we will be sitting here discussing the development that has come to fruition.”

The new hospital is expected to be sited in Th Park area of Newtown.

PTHB has an annual budget of £300 million. Of that, 25 per cent is used on directly provided services, such as community hospitals and health teams.

Another 25 per cent is spent on primary care such as general practitioners (GPs) dentists, optometrist (eyes) and pharmacists. And 50 per cent is on secondary and tertiary care.

Due to the sparse population there is no District General Hospital in Powys.