Call for new Flintshire hospital amid long A&E waits

As existing hospitals continue to struggle with waiting times and patient numbers, it is time for a new hospital in Flintshire?

Buckley Mountain councillor Carol Ellis believes that while it may seem like a radical solution, it would create additional capacity and reduce travel time for many of the county’s most vulnerable patients.

But Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board said the delivery of healthcare is moving away from acute settings like hospitals and its solution is to deliver more local primary care and preventative health measures.

Flintshire is currently served by three hospitals – Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in Rhyl, Wrexham Maelor and the Countess of Chester. A&E waiting times can range from three hours to 12 hours and all three face issues over capacity, with the rate of patients requiring admission often exceeding the pace at which care packages are put in place for patients to return home.

Cllr Ellis – leader of the True Independents Group – believes it is time to start having a serious conversation about building new general hospital in Flintshire.

“There is a need here,” she said. “Flintshire is a bigger county then Wrexham and 33% of Flintshire residents receive accident and emergency care at the Countess of Chester.

“Anyone who has visited a hospital lately or tried to call an ambulance will know how bad the situation is.

“I had a complaint recently from a cancer patient who three times had been treated on a corridor. This is a person with no immune system whatsoever.

“Also we have no choice where we receive our care. Just over the border in England if you live in , say, Devon and you need a knee replacement you may believe that the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Gobowen is a centre of excellence, you can choose to be treated there.

“In Wales we don’t have a choice. We can be referred to other hospitals for specialist care, but we cannot choose where we receive our care.

“There is also the issue of GPs. Recently I raised the issue of healthcare in a planning meeting over a development in Hawarden last week where it was revealed the local GP, which should have 2,500 patients, has over 5,000.

“One of my residents recently likened getting a GP appointment to winning the lottery. When those people get frustrated and can’t get seen by a GP where do they go? A&E. It all adds to the pressure on hospitals and it’s a viscious cycle then of increasing pressure on social services who need to put care packages in place.

“We’ve lost so many community beds that would have provided a halfway house to ease that pressure. We’ve lost Flint Community hospital, we’ve lost a number of care homes. The last new health centres built were in Hope and Buckley a decade ago.

“With more homes being built in Flintshire, how will health services cope if the population increases? That’s why I think there is a real need for a new hospital – to ease the existing problems and build capacity for the future.”

Currently BCUHB has no plans to build a new hospital in Flintshire. Paolo Tardivel, BCUHB’s Interim Executive Director of Transformation and Strategic Planning, said that  the way healthcare is delivered is changing.

“Healthcare generally is seeing a shift away from acute settings, with the focus on a wider range of local primary services and preventative health innovations.,” he said. “People tell us they want to access services more quickly and closer to where they live.

“Care closer to home could mean enhanced community nursing services, more clinics within communities and fewer trips to acute hospitals. We are also developing a number of Wellbeing Hubs, which cluster local services together.

“As part of our 10-year strategy and clinical services planning, we are looking at what our future population health care needs will be and reviewing the services we provide across North Wales. We have outlined this in our Integrated Medium Term Plan and we are hoping this work will be finished in the financial year 2026-27.”

Stuart Keen, BCUHB’s Director of Environment and Estates, said that while Flintshire may not have its own hospital, it is well served by the north wales healthcare network.

“We have not developed a plan for an acute hospital in Flintshire,” he said. “We plan our estates approach based on our clinical strategies within the wider Health Board area, rather than county boundaries.

“We currently have 19 premises in Flintshire. These include four health clinics and three community hospitals at Mold, Deeside and Holywell. As regards access, at its closest Flintshire is around 10 minutes’ drive from Wrexham Maelor Hospital and 20 minutes from Glan Clwyd Hospital. This compares favourably with many towns in other North Wales counties.

“While we are not currently developing a plan for a new acute hospital in Flintshire, we will be guided by clinical need, whether there is a viable proposal – and if there is capital funding to build it, resources to staff it and the finance available to keep it running.”

By Alec Doyle – Local Democracy Reporter