Reform and Lib Dems clash over Powys hospital beds

Reform UK and the Welsh Liberal Democrats have clashed over the future of community hospital beds in Powys, with both sides accusing the other of misleading residents about the health board’s Better Together plans.

The row follows a meeting between Reform UK politicians and senior representatives of Powys Teaching Health Board on Wednesday, August 26, to discuss the future of healthcare services across the county.

Reform UK Shadow Health Minister James Evans MS, Iain McIntosh MS and David Mills MS said the health board had made clear that hospital site closures were not currently expected to form part of its proposals.

However, the Liberal Democrats have accused Reform of being “extraordinarily naive” for accepting the health board’s assurances, arguing that the issue is not simply whether hospital buildings themselves will close but whether beds and services could gradually be removed.

The health board has confirmed that no decisions have been made and that formal public consultation has not yet started.

In a letter sent to politicians earlier this month, Powys Teaching Health Board said there were “no plans or proposals to close any community hospital sites in Powys”.

However, it also said detailed options were being developed which could change where services are provided.

One of the scenarios being considered would involve more services being provided through “centres of excellence”, meaning some services, including hospital beds, could be provided in fewer locations than at present.

The health board has also ruled out a scenario involving inpatient care, including community hospital beds, being provided outside Powys.

It says community hospital beds will continue to be provided within the county, although the role and function of individual hospitals could change.

A formal consultation is expected later this year, subject to the health board approving the next stage of the process in September. Decisions are not expected before spring 2027.

Following their meeting with the health board, the three Reform politicians said they were “deeply concerned” about any changes which could result in Powys losing hospital beds or local services.

But they accused the Liberal Democrats of creating unnecessary alarm by campaigning against the closure of hospital sites when, they said, the health board had made no such proposal.

They said: “People understandably become extremely worried when they are told that their local hospital site could close. Politicians therefore have a responsibility to be accurate about what is actually being considered.”

Reform described the Lib Dem campaign as “more than ordinary political opportunism”, saying that frightening people into believing their local hospital was about to close, when the health board had said no such closure was being proposed, was a “deeply cynical” way of seeking political support.

The party also criticised a Liberal Democrat petition being promoted around the future of community hospitals.

The petition says the health board is considering plans that could “remove inpatient beds from all but two community hospitals in Powys”.

It names Ystradgynlais, Builth Wells, Knighton, Bronllys, Welshpool, Llanidloes, Machynlleth and Llandrindod Wells as hospitals where services could be downgraded or cut, leaving Brecon and Newtown with inpatient wards.

The petition describes these as “hospital closures in all but name” and calls on residents to oppose plans to remove inpatient beds.

The Liberal Democrats have said they are not claiming the health board is proposing to immediately close hospital buildings.

Responding to Reform, Welsh Liberal Democrat MP David Chadwick and Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd MS Jane Dodds said Reform was being “extraordinarily naive” if it believed the health board did not already have a preferred direction of travel simply because the formal consultation had not started.

“Rather than standing with communities fighting to protect their local hospitals, Reform appear to have swallowed the health board’s assurances wholesale without any critical thinking and are now attacking the people raising the alarm,” they said.

The Liberal Democrats said their concerns were about beds and services as well as buildings.

“We have never said the health board is proposing to immediately close hospital buildings; our petition is explicitly about the threat to remove social care / step-down beds,” they said.

“But we are also clear, there is a threat of closure by stealth in the long term.”

They said the concern was that beds and services could gradually be removed from community hospitals until they were no longer considered financially viable.

“What use is calling somewhere a hospital if you have removed its beds and stripped away the services local people depend on?” they said.

The party also pointed to a recent letter from every GP practice in Powys expressing concerns about the direction of the proposals.

In the letter, sent in July, the practices said reducing community hospital capacity risked undermining the aim of providing more care closer to home, and warned that in a large, rural county it could mean longer journeys and increased pressure on patients, carers and families.

The practices said community hospitals were “not surplus capacity” and questioned how reducing beds would support the aim of moving more care into communities.

The Lib Dems also pointed to more than 7,000 signatures on their petition and said more than 1,200 people had attended recent public meetings in Ystradgynlais, Builth Wells, Llanidloes and Welshpool.

The health board has stressed that its work is still at an early stage.

It says more than half of patients currently in a community hospital bed could potentially be cared for at home if the right community health services were available.

At the same time, it says community hospital beds “will remain an essential and valuable element” of any future service model.

The board has said the Better Together programme is intended to strengthen care in people’s homes and communities, reduce unnecessary hospital admissions and provide bed-based care in the most appropriate way.

It says the detailed options have not yet been finalised and no decisions have been made.

The political row has also extended to the Welsh Government budget.

Reform accused the Liberal Democrats of helping to support a previous Welsh Government budget despite the financial pressures now facing health services.

The Liberal Democrats rejected that claim, saying Jane Dodds did not support the 2025 budget but abstained after securing more than £100 million in additional funding.

They said the deal included investment for Powys, including funding for the Heart of Wales Line, road repairs, capital projects and social care.

Ms Dodds has since refused to back the most recent Welsh Government budget, citing concerns about funding for healthcare in Powys.

Reform said the county needed properly funded healthcare and accused the Liberal Democrats of being unable to “wash their hands” of financial decisions they had helped shape.

The party said Powys’ older and widely dispersed population, its rural geography and the absence of a district general hospital meant the county’s particular circumstances should be reflected in NHS funding.

The Liberal Democrats, meanwhile, said they would continue to campaign against the removal of beds and services from community hospitals.

Both parties say they want to protect local healthcare.

The health board is due to consider its pre-consultation business case in September. If approved, the detailed options would then go to formal public consultation, with decisions not expected before spring 2027.