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Petition number: P-05-830 Petition title: Reopen St David’s Medical Centre, Pentwyn Full Time Text of petition: We call on the National Assembly for Wales to urge Cardiff and Vale University Health Board to reopen St David's Medical Centre, Pentwyn full time and invest in this well used centre. We call on the health board to conduct an assessment of patient need in East Cardiff in light of recent housing developments. |
Background
Reduced opening hours
St David’s Medical Centre in Pentwyn, Cardiff is a branch surgery of the Pontprennau Medical Centre and a Wales Online news article on 23 May 2018 reported that St David’s Medical Centre which has 10,000 registered patients would only be opening in the mornings in future due to major staffing problems.
The article highlights that the announcement comes as Cardiff Council, as part of its Local Development Plan, intends to increase the population of north Cardiff by as many as 13,000 over the next few years. Councillor Joseph Carter, of the Liberal Democrats, said in the article that reducing the hours would have a negative impact on residents living in his constituency of Pentwyn. In a letter to Councillor Carter the Health Board’s head of primary care contractor services said plans were in place to develop the more modern Pontprennau Medical Centre to “absorb” 8,000 more patients.
Following approval from the Welsh Government, the Health Board was said to have set aside funding to increase the capacity at the Pontprennau site to accommodate those moving into new housing developments.
Closure of the branch surgery
Following the reduced hours being put in place at the branch surgery, its closure was then announced on the Pontprennau Medical Centre website[1]:
Branch Surgery Update
We currently provide services for all our patients at 2 sites, the main surgery at Pontprennau Medical Centre and the branch surgery at St David’s Medical Centre.
The Practice have a number of concerns over the continued running of the branch surgery, including but not limited to the condition of the building, leasing arrangements and accessibility issues.
Due to these concerns, we have made the difficult decision to apply to close the branch surgery at St David Medical Centre.
We would like to assure you that a full range of services will continue to be available, to ALL our patients, from the main surgery at Pontprennau Medical Centre and hope that you all continue to access services from us. There will also be no reduction in the number of appointments available.
We have engaged with the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Community Health Council, and they wish to hear YOUR VIEWS on this proposal.
If you would like to comment on this application, please contact your CHC using the details below. Comments are required before Friday 24th August 2018.
Further to the above information, the Pontprennau Medical Centre website provides an update stating that a patient meeting will be held on 18 September 2018 and the practice team will be present to discuss their rationale for the proposed closure of the St David’s Medical Practice. All patients are invited to attend and will be given the opportunity to ask questions. The meeting will be facilitated by representatives of the Cardiff & Vale Community Health Council.
Correspondence on the petition
Correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services dated 21 August 2018 highlights that neither he, nor his officials, are able to intervene in relation to the closure of St David’s Medical Centre as it is a contractual matter between Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and Pontprennau Medical Centre.
The Cabinet Secretary states that the practice has made a formal application to the Health Board to close the branch surgery, which is believed to be due to the poor physical state of the St David’s premises and expiry of the current lease with the landlord. The Cabinet Secretary refers to the formal process being in place for consideration of the branch closure application and patients having the opportunity to express their views on the proposed plan at a public meeting being organised by the Community Health Council.
The correspondence notes that significant improvement grant funding has been secured to develop the Pontprennau main surgery premises to provide additional capacity for patients to receive care.
The Cabinet Secretary has written to the Chair of Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, asking her to ensure that the issues raised are addressed and to reply directly to the petitioner.
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