CONSULTANT gynaecologist, Chris Overton, has again spoken out against Pembrokeshire and Derwen NHS Trust, just months after being suspended for doing the same thing.

His latest outburst follows the announcement last week that the Trust will cut a flurry of services across the county in order to meet Welsh Assembly-enforced savings of around £4 million by next April.

The Withybush Hospital consultant said there was great unhappiness in most surgical services about the changes.

He said: "The Trust should take the bull by the horns, go back to the Welsh Assembly and say the savings it is forcing them to make are unreasonable and that it cannot be done.

"The Trust is trying to reduce its 'debts' by cutting services. What it should be doing is standing up for the people of Pembrokeshire rather than kowtowing to the Welsh Assembly."

Services facing the axe include the reduction of 12 theatre sessions per week at Withybush Hospital and the closure of four high-dependency beds.

Five beds at South Pembrokeshire Hospital will go and all-night cover at the minor injury units at Tenby Cottage Hospital and South Pembs will be stopped.

The Cleddau Day Hospital will also be scrapped under the savings plan, along with the district nursing overnight service.

But 20 medical beds at Withybush and the rehabilitation day unit were two of six services saved.

The Trust say further cuts could be made to make up a £1million shortfall, but not without plunging services to a dangerous level.

Chris Overton, who got into hot water in January for whistle-blowing over the closure of Withybush's gynaecology ward and continuing bed cuts, has labelled the Trust as 'hypocrites'.

It was revealed that just a day after the Trust announced drastic cuts, it was forking out for a managerial away-day.

Acting chief executive of the Trust, Mary Hodgeon, said on this occasion funds for the management away-day came from one of the Trust's 'Trust Funds' specifically identified for staff-related activities.

She said: "The Trust regularly uses off-site facilities for training and development, consultation and conferences purposes. It is very common practice across the public and private sector."

AT A time when Pembrokeshire and Derwen NHS Trust is being forced to tighten its belt, new waiting list times reveal there are nearly twice as many people waiting more than six months for an outpatient appointment in Pembrokeshire than in the whole of England.

In Pembrokeshire, 3,023 people are currently waiting more than half a year to see a consultant, while in England only 1,792 are waiting that long.

The Trust's acting chief executive, Mary Hodgeon emphasised that despite having to make £4 million savings by next April, waiting times were still important.

She said: "Waiting lists are still a priority for the Trust and all measures we discussed last week assume that we will meet our 12 month waiting lists, admission of all emergency patients and achievement of four and eight hour maximum waits in A&E."