HEALTH chiefs are to consider closing the children's ward at Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth - due to a lack of nurses.
A Hywel Dda University Health Board meeting on Thursday will consider a series of cuts, including inpatient beds at Tregaron hospital and closing the minor injuries unit overnight at Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli.
Among the agenda items for the cash-strapped health board is a report on the future of Angharad ward at Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth.
The report says: "Angharad Ward is currently operating as an 11 bedded Paediatric ward consisting of a four bed Paediatric Ambulatory Care Unit (PACU), six inpatient ward beds and one Paediatric High Dependency stabilisation space.
"PACU is a hospital-based facility in which infants, children and young people with acute illness, injury or other urgent referrals from clinicians can be assessed, investigated, observed and treated with an expectation of discharge in less than 24 hours.
"Ward care supports those children who need to be treated for longer than 24 hours because they are too unwell to be discharged, and High Dependency Unit (HDU) is designed to support children requiring more detailed observation or intervention such as respiratory support, prior to repatriation to paediatric intensive care at another hospital site."
Presently, 24/7 paediatric assessment and inpatient support is provided by a team of paediatric trained nurses and doctors, caring for children from Ceredigion, Powys and Gwynedd.
However, the health board says it has had difficulty hiring nurses and two are set to go off on maternity leave.
Therefore, the board has outlined a number of options, which includes closing Angharad ward but maintaining the four emergency beds.
This, they suggest, would be for a six month period.
The recommended option would see 24 hour cover for the four PACU beds, but the report warns this may not be achievable as they would still have to hire more nurses and there is a 'Risk that BGH will not be able to maintain the commitment to the second nurse which could lead to ad hoc overnight closures'.
Other options include only running a 12 hour a day service.
The change would come into effect from 1 November if approved.
Children who need care for more than 24 hours will be transferred to Glangwili in Carmarthen.
The report adds: “The consensus operational (clinical and management) view is that any recommended model should maintain a 24-hour provision at BGH.
“However, the ability to sustain a 24/7 ward based inpatient model is at a critical level and remains an extremely fragile service in the absence of effective nursing / workforce recruitment solutions.”
Reacting to the report, Ceredigion MS, Elin Jones said: “It’s a real shock that the inpatient paediatric beds at Bronglais are going to close for 6 months.
“That will cause real concern to ripple through the community.
“Whilst emergency 24 hour care and most treatments will continue for children at Bronglais, care needed for longer than 24 hours will transfer to Glangwili.
“We’ve seen paediatric centralisation away from Withybush to Glangwili happen over the last years, and I’ll be making sure that this change is temporary and that the full paediatric service is returned in 6 months once nurse staffing pressures have eased.”