Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport, Vaughan Gething, visited two new facilities completed recently at Withybush Hospital, Haverfordwest.

Mr. Gething was able to talk to patients and frontline staff at the hospital and see for himself the delivery of new capital projects and care closer to home.

He visited the new Haematology and Oncology Unit, which will open soon to patients; the new Puffin Paediatric Ambulatory Care Unit, which opened in its new location on the ground floor just before Christmas, and the Renal Unit, which has been providing care to dialysis patients in a bespoke environment for the last two years.

Mr. Gething said: “It was fantastic to see first hand the modern new facilities at Withybush hospital and to hear from staff and patients about the positive impact they’re having on people’s lives . The bespoke new units will ensure patients are able to receive the right treatment, at the right time as close to home as possible.”

Hywel Dda University Health Board Chair Bernardine Rees, Withybush Clinical Director Dr Iain Robertson-Steel and County Director for Pembrokeshire Sue Lewis led the tour around the hospital.

They were able to describe to the Cabinet Secretary how closely frontline line staff, patients and community fundraisers have been involved in the Haematology and Oncology project. The environment has been specifically designed by estates staff working with staff and patients to provide a comfortable and comforting space for patients, which inspires and works practically.

For example, the new facility will provide for the first time an isolation area to provide a safer environment for the care and treatment of specific patients; a dedicated drug preparation room to improve staff’s ability to prepare medication without distraction; and a dedicated space for video-conferencing facilities, which could reduce the need for staff and potentially patients to travel.

Haematology Nurse Practitioner Tracey Thomas said: “It is a world away from our current facility and we are so looking forward to the move so that we can provide the care and environment that our patients deserve.”

Mr. Gething was also given a tour of the new Puffin PACU. He was able to speak to play workers and nursing staff about the location and the benefits it offers for closer working with the Emergency Department, community paediatric services and other hospital facilities frequently used by children.

He was also able to speak to patients in the hospital, such as 79-year-old Dennis Carter who has been a renal dialysis patient for six years. Dennis, from Milford Haven, originally had to be taken to Carmarthen for treatment, before he then received care in a portable cabin in Withybush Hospital, and for the last two years has benefited from being provided with care in the new bespoke unit at the front of the hospital.

The service is provided through collaboration between the Welsh Renal Clinical Network, Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee and university health boards in Hywel Dda and Abertawe Bro Morgannwg.

He said: “It certainly helps not having to do the long journey to Carmarthen before and after treatment, and this unit really is very comfortable.” The former bricklayer was keen to praises local nurses. “Wherever I have been the nursing care has been second to none,” he said. “Our nurses in the Withybush renal unit are fantastic, I can’t fault them.”

Hospital Director Dr Robertson-Steel said it was an exciting time for the hospital: “The Withybush Hospital and Hywel Dda University Health Board team has completed two new units at the end of 2016, on schedule and on budget. We aim to provide the best care for our patients, now in the transition phase, and as we move to the future.

“We were pleased to welcome the Cabinet Secretary to the hospital and were able to talk to him about the proposed plans for 2017 including the new medical day unit, the Ward 9 proposals and the business case for the new end of life and palliative care unit, all of which are subject to funding bids.”

Dr Robertson-Steel also thanked the charities for their enormous support.