The plans include moving Longford and Cambria services on to one site to improve the patient experience, but there’s a block in the road.
Rhun ap Iorwerth, Member of the Senedd for Ynys Môn has written in his regular Holyhead & Anglesey Mail column today (22/3/23) about the need to co-locate Longford and Cambria surgeries in Holyhead, so that Hwb Iechyd Cybi – the BCUHB managed practice since 2019, after a collapse in GP services - operates in a “genuinely joined up way that they will be able to take their journey of improvement to the next level.”
Hwb Iechyd Cybi submitted their plans and business case to co-locate their staff and services by developing temporary buildings on the Cambria site in 2022 with the intention of co-locating both surgeries. It was hoped that the project would be complete by December 2022, but Mr ap Iorwerth understands that the project is still awaiting BCUHB approval.
Mr ap Iorwerth also raised this issue in the Senedd earlier this month (7/3/23) where he called for plans to be approved “as a matter of urgency, for the sake of the people of Holyhead, who have suffered for far too long in terms of the level of healthcare available to them” given that Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has now been placed back in Welsh Government special measures.
Rhun ap Iorwerth, Member of the Senedd for Ynys Môn said:
“The plan to co-locate the Longford and Cambria surgeries on one site is a no-brainer on every level. From strengthening the reception team to allowing flexibility right across the multidisciplinary healthcare team, this can be a game changer in Hwb Iechyd Cybi’s continued journey of improving services for the people of Holyhead.
“This decision simply has to be made quickly, and I’ll be meeting with BCUHB officials in coming days to see how we can move forward. I’ll raise this issue with the new Chair of the health board, and will pursue it in the Senedd again, given that by putting Betsi in special measures again, Welsh Government now effectively have direct control of the board.
“These have been difficult times, and whilst we’re now in a better place in terms of access to services, the people of Holyhead need to know that the road to better primary healthcare services will continue onward and upward. There can be no stalling.”
Rhun ap Iorwerth MS added:
“In raising our collective voice when primary care services collapsed in the town in 2019, we won the argument for a new multidisciplinary health centre in Holyhead. I’m confident that development will come, but inevitably, it will take a few years to come to fruition. In the meantime, I’m grateful to Hwb Iechyd Cybi Practice Manager Chris Cook and the excellent new GP Clinical Lead, Dr Laura Bennett who have been uncompromising in their recruitment determination – as a result, the GP staffing crisis that seemed an enormous mountain to climb not that long ago has been addressed.
“Moving forward with these co-location plans is the next step in improving healthcare services for Holyhead.”