The Welsh Liberal Democrats have branded the proposed consultation on the future of Powys hospitals a “sham”, warning the options put forward amount to a choice between two versions of widespread cuts.

David Chadwick MP and Jane Dodds MS have criticised Powys Teaching Health Board after papers published ahead of its meeting next week set out options for reducing community hospital inpatient provision and centralising some services.

At the meeting next Wednesday (September 16) the health board will consider whether the proposals are ready to go out to public consultation.

Under one option, the number of community inpatient sites would be reduced from eight to three – Brecon, Llandrindod Wells and Newtown – with around 90 beds. A second option would leave just Brecon and Newtown providing inpatient care, with around 60 beds. Both options would remove inpatient beds from Ystradgynlais, Welshpool, Llanidloes, Machynlleth and Bronllys.

The Liberal Democrats said the documents showed the health board had considered a wider range of possible configurations before narrowing down the options being put forward for consultation.

The party said this meant communities were not being given a genuine choice about the future of their hospitals.

David Chadwick, Welsh Liberal Democrat MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, said: “People across Powys were promised that they would have a genuine say over the future of their hospitals.

“Instead, they are being presented with a choice between two different versions of sweeping cuts.

“Before a single resident has responded to the formal consultation, most options have already been taken off the table.

“Keeping our existing network of community hospital beds isn't even being offered as a choice. How can anyone reasonably describe that as a genuinely open consultation?”

He said people would “understandably feel they have been hoodwinked”.

“For places like Ystradgynlais, the scale of what is being proposed is staggering. The hospital stands to lose its inpatient beds, its Minor Injury Unit, its X-ray service and its mental-health inpatient beds,” he said.

“We will not stand for the hollowing out of our community hospitals. We are gearing up our campaign across Powys and will fight tooth and nail to protect the local services our communities depend on.”

Jane Dodds, Welsh Liberal Democrat MS for Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd, said the proposals represented a “shocking betrayal of the trust of communities across Powys”.

She called on the Welsh Government to intervene and said rural healthcare could not be treated in the same way as services in urban areas.

“Removing beds and centralising services inevitably means much longer journeys for some of the oldest and most vulnerable people in Wales,” she said.

“If the Welsh Government genuinely believes in protecting rural healthcare, it needs to prove it.

“That means giving Powys the funding it needs and telling the Health Board to go back to the drawing board with options that actually protect community hospital provision.”

The health board has stressed that no final decisions have been made.

He said any consultation would give people the opportunity to “test the evidence, challenge our thinking, and help inform what happens next”.

The health board has also said the proposals would be accompanied by greater investment in services delivered in people's homes and communities, including Hospital at Home, rehabilitation, reablement, district nursing and rapid response services.

If approved, the consultation would begin on October 5 and run for 14 weeks.

Final recommendations are currently expected to return to the health board in spring 2027.