Trust gives nod to merger

10:07am Friday 26th October 2007

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The Pembrokeshire and Derwen NHS Trust Board on Thursday gave the nod to the controversial merger of the three West Wales Trusts at a extraordinary meeting yesterday.

They agreed on the proviso that the current £37m debt is written off the April 1st deadline is met.

During a 55-minute discussion at an extraordinary meeting, there were a few cautionary comments from some board members, but the official consensus was in favour of being a small fish in a large pool rather than the contrary.

The merger had already been voted against by the Community Health Council who had discussed it as part of the consultation process earlier this month.

The majority said that they saw nothing in the latest report of the Merger Project Team to justify amalgamation and no convincing argument in a recent report by team director Keith Thompson.

The Save Withybush Action Team (SWAT) are also against the merger.

They maintain that the creation of a "monstrous super trust" is the biggest threat to local health services.

They say that the trust would have a debt of £42 million, with £14m coming from Pembrokeshire and Derwen, at its conception.

See next week's Western Telegraph for the full story.