Elective (planned) surgery at Withybush Hospital will now go ahead as arranged, Hywel Dda Health Board has confirmed, following a decision last week to reschedule some elective surgery. This decision was made due to the extreme pressure experienced by all major hospitals because of the number of emergency patients.

Hospitals within Hywel Dda Health Board have experienced a large increase in the number of patients needing emergency care across the winter months.

The Health Board says it will ensure patients whose surgery was affected last week have their surgery rebooked as soon as possible.

“I’d like to thank every member of staff who has continued to work exceptionally hard to deliver patient care during this extremely busy time,” said Dr Sue Fish, Medical Director.

She said that emergency departments continued to be very busy and asked members of the public to only come to accident and emergency if they needed care that couldn’t be provided anywhere else.

People are urged to contact NHS Direct Wales on 0845 46 47 for non-emergency situations or for advice on where can best treat their condition. However, in an emergency life threatening situation they should always call 999