On July 4, 2-7pm, the Hywel Dda team will be at Tenby Leisure Centre to provide consultation documents and questionnaires, talk through the options, answer questions and collect feedback.

The team will also be visiting the Pater Hall, Pembroke Dock on July 10, 3-6pm.

Over 1,000 people in communities in mid and west Wales have already shared their views about potential changes to healthcare services in a questionnaire as Hywel Dda University Health Board consults with people on nine healthcare services to improve access and standards and deal with current challenges.

The services are critical care, dermatology, emergency general surgery, endoscopy, ophthalmology, elective orthopaedics, radiology, stroke and urology.

From questionnaire responses so far, 40 per cent are from people in Pembrokeshire, 34 per cent from people in Carmarthenshire, 23 per cent from people in Ceredigion and 3 per cent from people living elsewhere.

Medical Director Mr Mark Henwood said: “The changes we are looking to make will have at their heart the best interests of the people of mid and west Wales by improving the quality and safety of care we can provide.”

“We have options for each of the nine service areas to improve access for patients, improve standards, or to help deal with challenges in providing these services. But we need to know which you think are best able to meet the challenges, or any concerns you think those options would have. We are also encouraging any alternative options or ideas, as well as wanting to know your thoughts on the future role of our main hospitals in mid and west Wales.”

In the questionnaire there are multiple options available for indicating a preference, including ‘no particular preference’ or ‘don’t know’. Completing this section is optional, and there is an open text field provided for additional comments or to suggest alternative ideas.

The Board will consider all they have heard leading up to, and during, this consultation. This includes health and equality impact assessments, which will consider how people could be affected and what needs to be done to reduce negative impacts. They will also consider any new ideas and decisions will not be based solely on option selections in the questionnaire.

There is a wide range of supporting information on dedicated web pages. Examples include health impacts and equality assessments, and case studies to show what options could look like for an individual living in the Hywel Dda area. Patient and travel insight can also be found in the Supporting Documents area.

You can join people who have already shared their views and there are a range of easy ways to do so:

Upcoming events include:

Mr Henwood added: “Your views are needed by August 31, 2025, so please make time to share your thoughts with us or contact us if you need more help or information.”