It is with a heavy heart that I write this article. I still love the NHS and I am sure that all of us would pay a bit more tax to improve it, as it is our treasure. However, it has seen better days and thanks to the last government in Westminster, it is now a disaster.
Before we talk about the hospital, there are of course the local GPs. The patients have rarely seen a GP since COVID. They are treated by telephone, which is absolutely ludicrous. They also wait for their blood tests results from their GPs. The waiting time is about 3 months per result. The laboratory in Prince Philip does a very quick turnaround on results for the doctors. The question we should be asking is:
“Why does it take three months for a GP to give those results to the patients.” The lack of efficiency in the local surgeries is appalling. There is a real problem with diagnosis. The GPs are making a great many mistakes.
I have interviewed people who had to attend A &E in Glangwili recently. This is a mixture of reports and as no-one wants to be named, I have endeavoured to blend them all into one experience. So let us call her Janet. I watched and questioned all these patients in June over four days, making notes from my interviews.
It was a Sunday night, when Janet was taken very ill. She was diagnosed with asthma by the GP. She did not have asthma. She had pneumonia, a blood clot and COPD, a lung problem. She literally could not breathe. A neighbour took her to A&E and her life in a hard chair for four days began. At 10 pm she saw a doctor and then was sent for a scan. She was brought down to A&E, put back in a chair with oxygen, and that’s where she stayed for four days. A couple of patients here and there had trolleys or recliners but for most of them it was hard chairs.
They were also running out of space so they opened up three side rooms which would hold five people in each room. At one point they wanted to put more patients in these side rooms and a nurse stood guard and refused to let them do this. She told them that there were enough patients in there already. There were five ambulances parked outside as temporary wards. These were holding more patients for days. This meant of course that the ambulances were not available for emergency use.
The A&E was absolutely bursting with patients, all experiencing the same problem with their treatment. Many of them were even more elderly than Janet and just had to wait hour upon hour to be seen and then to be treated. Other hospitals were rung for possible beds but they too were having the same problems. No beds were available anywhere. They were fed with the most disgusting food. It was inedible most of the time.
Thursday afternoon, she eventually had a heart scan, a system scan and low and behold a bed. In the wards the food was much better. This seems very odd to me that emergency food is disgusting and ward food is bearable. Who is providing this food? Two separate kitchens? One producing reasonable food and one producing disgusting food. How seriously bizarre!
When the families visited, they brought food in for the member of the family that was in hospital. This description makes it sound like a third world country, not the sixth richest country in the world. Before Brexit, we were the fifth richest country but we have been demoted after Brexit.
Now Janet is home with tablets. She has to rest a great deal. In August, she will return to the hospital for a check on her respiratory problems
In September, she will get a consultation with her GP on the phone.
SHE HAS NEVER SEEN A GP IN PERSON AND CERTAINLY THERE WAS NO CONCERN FOR HER BY HER GP WHEN SHE WAS IN HOSPITAL.
These are happening to patients all over the country.
However in our particular case, we have approached the Health Board to find out if we can replace the A&E in Prince Philip. The Board took our request seriously and treated us with respect but they felt that the answer had to be no. We accepted that in the end but other ideas are under discussion with them.
However, facing and describing the problems in Glangwili, I do feel that Llanelli should have its own A&E at Prince Philip. Carmarthenshire has only 3 A&E departments; Bronglais, Withybush, and of course, Glangwili.
Carmarthenshire is a huge county and could do with another A&E. Hopefully, one day, we might achieve this in Llanelli. Patients cannot continue to be treated in this way. It is inhuman. We are not in a war zone. We have to have some basic humanity. The well-being of the people matters.
