South Wales Evening Post - 25 October 2006
Plans to build a new super-hospital in Swansea must not be made in secret, a city AM has insisted.
The call for a public debate comes amid fears the controversial scheme could lead to the axing of Singleton Hospital. There are also fears it will see all services being transferred to Morriston Hospital.
Peter Black, AM for South Wales West, has raised concerns after the Assembly put forward plans for a business park on a site in Felindre which had previously been touted as the location for the super-hospital.
The merger of two hospitals at Morriston Hospital was mooted in a report to Swansea NHS Trust Board last month.
Mr Black said: "There may well be some public support for a new state-of-the-art hospital at a strategically placed location to replace both Morriston and Singleton.
"But I do not believe that this extends to a straightforward merger in which facilities will be withdrawn from the west of Swansea and transferred to Morriston.
"All the discussion on the options is taking place behind closed doors. The trust is already putting in place proposals to transfer some services from Singleton to Morriston without any public consultation.
"We need to have a public debate on the way forward now before we are presented with a fait accompli that cannot be undone."
The new super-hospital, which will cost an estimated £500 million, could see its first patients by 2012.
Health chiefs have insisted Singleton Hospital would still have a role to play and would retain some medical services, including the cancer unit, for at least another decade.
Swansea NHS Trust associate director of corporate services Steve Combe added: "There is already a wide range of close working underway with partners as ideas are being developed.
"The Reshaping Health Services in Swansea (RHSS) project has a programme board, with partner organisations including Swansea Council, Swansea Local Health Board, Swansea Community Health Council, voluntary organisations and Swansea University, overseeing the whole RHSS project.
"With acute hospital services, the Assembly will shortly be given a report about why the current system is unsustainable, and a request will be made to include Swansea in the all-Wales capital budget.
"If that is given approval, an outline business case then has to be developed, which will go into more detail about what the options would be. This will be done early in the new year.
"We will seek to have public involvement in that process and will be launching a formal public consultation.
"In the meantime, we are keeping patients, the public and others informed of progress through a number of channels."
