THE reduction of hours at Withybush Hospital’s paediatric ambulatory care unit (PACU) has not resulted in “adverse clinical incidents” or formal complaint, say the health board.

Hywel Dda Health Board said new figures received monitoring the temporary change will be discussed at Thursday’s full health board meeting, to be held at the Phoenix Community Centre, Goodwick.

At the last health board meeting in November, members agreed to a temporary change in provision of some children’s services due to a shortage of paediatric consultants at Withybush Hospital.

Since the start of December the PACU at Withybush Hospital has only been open 10am-6pm - a reduction in four hours from the 12 hour service which was cut from 24 hour previously.

Children needing an overnight stay or paediatric assessment at night, are now transferred to Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen.

A health board spokesman said that the monitoring report due for discussion details activity still provided at Withybush Hospital for children, as well as the affect of the change on Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen.

“No adverse clinical incidents have been reported and no formal complaints have been received by the health board since the temporary arrangements were introduced. Current monitoring also shows it is affecting very few families per day, actually slightly less than the expected range of between one and two a day,” she added.

Chief Executive Steve Moore said: “The Board were clear in November that the changes to paediatric services are temporary and in response to us needing to ensure a safe and reliable service for our families with the consultant paediatricians available. It is reassuring to see figures that confirm the change has been closely managed and also to hear of the progress that is being made in terms of recruitment into the service.

“I want to publically thank our current staff working in paediatric services across our area for their continued commitment, hard work and dedication. In a difficult period of change and challenge, they continue to provide excellent care to our population. Just this week we were contacted by a Pembrokeshire family who wished to thank our paediatric NHS staff for their care and compassion – and I know this happens at a ward level across our hospitals every day.”

The health board has recently recruited into a locum (temporary) paediatric consultant post, which should be in place by March 2017. Recruitment activities continue for vacant substantive posts and a bespoke paediatric consultant recruitment campaign is due to launch shortly.

Mr Moore said: “We remain fully committed in our efforts to recruit, but it is a challenge that we not only face in Hywel Dda, but across the UK and indeed the globe for this speciality. We are confident that the new service model is attractive and that our hospitals have a lot to offer consultants, doctors, nurses, therapists and other support staff, and we are promoting this at every opportunity.”

Dr Simon Fountain-Polley, Clinical lead for Child and Adolescent Health for Hywel Dda University Health Board said: “Difficulties in recruiting paediatric doctors has lead to us revising our current model of care to ensure we provide the safest service possible. Our modern, practising paediatric consultant team realises the difficulties we face and have chosen to face the challenge before us. This means balancing provision of acute paediatric care with continued outpatient care for families across our area, which is by far the majority of our work.

“Most unwell children are managed at home by their families – luckily few need assessment by the paediatric team - and many more are seen by our colleagues in A&E and by their family doctors. No child has suffered a clinically significant adverse effect from these changes – indeed the model of care has been designed so that as a whole service we are providing the safest care possible. Our paediatric team continue to work closely with those who use the service, and generally they seem to be adjusting well. Their feedback is invaluable and we are using it to help improve what we do.”

Families in Pembrokeshire are reminded they should access services in exactly the same way as they have been doing for the last two years, with overnight arrangements starting from 6pm instead of 10pm. This service model was independently reviewed by paediatric healthcare experts from the Royal Colleges who concluded the model was better meeting standards of care.

If your child is unwell, you can do a number of things:

• Call NHS Direct Wales – 0845 46 47 – they can advise you if you are unsure what to do, as well as provide health information on a wide range of conditions, treatment and local health services

• Use your community pharmacy if open

• Make an appointment with your GP as usual, including out-of- hours GP services, which are contacted through your normal GP telephone number

• For a paediatric minor injury, go to Withybush Emergency and Urgent Care Centre (EUCC) 24 hours a day

• In an emergency, if your child is very sick, you should dial 999 for assistance. Children who present at Withybush Hospital out-of-hours will usually be transferred to Glangwili Hospital for paediatric input. In the exceptional circumstance where emergency resuscitation is required, emergency and anaesthetic staff will resuscitate, stabilise, and arrange transfer onto another hospital

In the meantime, the health board continues to reduce the impact on families as much as possible. This includes provision of the dedicated ambulance vehicle for transfers between Withybush and Glangwili hospitals, provision of funded transport schemes such as that provided by Action for Children, help under the NHS Travel Costs scheme and, in exceptional circumstances where no alternatives are available, vulnerable families will be provided with a paid for taxi to return home.