Cautious praise for Tenby hospital pledge (From Western Telegraph)

Cautious praise for Tenby hospital pledge

The National Assembly's £8 million health services pledge to South Pembrokeshire, which includes reproviding the facilities of Tenby Cottage Hospital, is being greeted with cautious optimism by campaigners.

The funding - which includes the cost of land acquisition - will go to two schemes which are part of a Pembrokeshire-wide reprovision of services. One is in Tenby, where there has been a long fight against closure of the ageing Cottage Hospital and intense political pressure to see its services maintained.

The other is in Pembroke Dock, where part-finance by the Assembly has been sought to modernise the South Pembrokeshire Hospital as part of a unique multi-agency plan to deliver health and social care.

Both schemes are only at the outline business case stage, and it is not until the full business case stage is reached that the amounts of money allocated to the schemes will be agreed.

An Assembly spokesperson explained: "The £8 million has been earmarked within the capital programme over the next few years to progress the separate schemes in different locations.

"At this stage, it has not been decided what form the reprovision in Tenby will take, but the options include provision for a new-build, single site facility."

The preferred option in the outline business case for the Tenby area proposes a complete new build,which would feature:

* Intermediate and palliative care. * Minor injury services. * Facilities for consultant outpatient appointments and dentistry and podiatry clinics. * A base for health and nursing staff working in the community.

The allocation is part of £3.8 billion extra NHS funding in Wales, which was announced last week.