Assembly Member Simon Thomas has urged Health Minister Lesley Griffiths to review the closure of the minor injuries units in Tenby, Pembroke Dock and Pwllheli.

Hywel Dda Health Board has announced the closure of the units at Tenby and Pembroke Dock, and Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board has closed the unit at Pwllheli. Mid and West AM Simon Thomas has written to the Health Minister, Lesley Griffiths about the closures.

Mr. Thomas is the Plaid AM for Mid and West Wales, which includes Tenby, Pembroke Dock and Pwllheli.

He said: "In all three cases, medical staff are being transferred away from the local communities to more central locations.

"The centralisation of our hospital services, which is fiercely opposed by local people and medical staff alike, continues apace in our rural areas.

"It appears that the Tenby and Pembroke Dock decision reflects the inability of the current management structure of Hywel Dda to prioritise and allocate its resources properly.

"There is a shortage of Accident and Emergency consultants at Withybush Hospital, Haverfordwest. I have raised the issue of recruitment with the Welsh Government in the past. It appears the response is to close the two minor injuries units and transfer nursing staff to fill the gap at Withybush. The same need to reallocate nursing staff has been given as the reason for the 'temporary' closure of the minor injuries unit at Pwllheli.

"Plaid is demanding that Health Minister Lesley Griffiths raises these closures with the health boards. There seems to have been little or no consultation with the Community Health Councils - and certainly none with the local communities. There is no clarity of the exact nature of the 'temporary' closure at Pwllheli.

"The piecemeal approach being taken towards centralising services bodes ill for hospital services in general throughout Mid and West Wales."

Clr. Michael Williams, leader of Plaid Cymru on Pembrokeshire County Council, added: "The residents of Tenby in particular carried out a campaign over a period of more than 10 years, led by Mrs. Pat Wright, Clr. Mrs. Caroline Thomas, the late Roy Haggar and myself to save the old Tenby Cottage Hospital. The reward for their long struggle was the provision of beds in the private sector and the establishment of the MIU and other clinical facilities at a cost of more than £4m.

"Within five years, we see the new service being eroded, with the complete withdrawal of the Doctors on Call from Tenby hospital and now the closure of the MIU. How has the bloated management structure of Hywel Dda got itself into this mess?

"With the closure of MIUs how are patients to access Withybush? Those who don't have a car will have to dial 999 for ambulance assistance. This service is already stretched to breaking point, sometimes having to travel as far away as Swansea and leaving huge gaps in the emergency service.

"Is it a coincidence that the closures were announced just before Christmas - exactly what happened with the announcement that Tenby Cottage Hospital was to close?"