Temporary changes to hospital wards and opening times of Minor Injury Units (MIUs) will be in place for up to two years, as Powys Teaching Health Board’s (PTHB) Better Together programme is paused until after next year’s Senedd elections.

At a board meeting today (Wednesday, November 26), members received an update on the work done so far on “Better Together” - PTHB’s programme to transform and reorganise health services – and what is set to happen next year.

Director of People and Culture, Debra Wood-Lawson, said: “The decision takes account of the forthcoming Senedd elections and means the consultation for phase one is likely to take place around September next year.”

Phase one of Better Together covers adult physical and mental health community services.

Ms Wood-Lawson continued: “We do recognise the impact of the changed timeline on temporary service changes, and this is an area of key interest and concern for our communities. Given that no new issues have been identified, we consider the tying of the temporary service changes to the revised timeline of Better Together would make more sense.”

Medical Director, Dr Kate Wright, explained that since the “formal evaluation” of the temporary changes in the summer, “no significant concerns” had cropped up. She added that there would be ongoing monitoring of both the MIU and the hospital ward co-location, and any problems would be “escalated” if needed.

Katie Blackburn, the Regional Director of Llais, the independent advocacy group which represents patients in Powys and across Wales, said: “It is clear that those temporary services changes are likely to be for two years. This creates a great deal of anxiety for those communities.”

She believed that the decision needs to be further explained in those areas and that PTHB needs to produce a fresh integrated impact assessment on the temporary changes.

Ms Blackburn added: “We have committed to visiting those co-located units in January to seek the views of individuals on any potential unintended consequences.”

Ms Wright explained that the original impact assessment for the changes had been reviewed and would be put through a “more formal” reassessment.

The board then went ahead and voted to approve the report.

The changes were originally agreed in July 2024 as part of the health board’s attempts to claw back a £23 million budget deficit last year. Due to public backlash against the proposal, the health board conducted a six-week engagement process in August and September. The board met in October and approved the move for a second time.

Opening times at the Minor Injury Unit at Brecon War Memorial Hospital were reduced from 24 hours to 12 hours, from 8am to 8pm. Llandrindod Wells Memorial Hospital MIU, which was open from 7am to 12am, is now open from 8am to 8pm.

The Graham Davies ward in Llanidloes War Memorial Hospital and the Llewelyn ward in Bronllys Hospital specialise in getting patients fit and ready to go home. Patients needing rehabilitation following illnesses or conditions such as strokes are looked after at Epynt ward in Brecon War Memorial Hospital and Bronheulog ward in Newtown’s Montgomeryshire County Infirmary.

The overnight MIU closure was implemented on November 18, 2024, while the hospital ward changes came into force on December 2, 2024.