ALARM AT A & E AXING in Llanelli

Plaid Councillor Dyfrig Thomas said: “The people of Llanelli are horrified to receive the news that Prince Philip Hospital may lose its Accident and Emergency Unit.  Under the present climate this may not have come as a complete surprise.  However this will not only cause inconvenience and delay in treatment, it could very well lead to tragic loss of lives.”

It was only last April during the Assembly Election campaign that Keith Davies our current Assembly Member and the Labour Party were accusing Plaid of baseless allegations and scaremongering when Plaid Cymru warned the electorate that the A & E services were under threat.

Cllr Thomas continued “The Labour Health and Social Services Minister, Lesley Griffiths, has said clearly that she runs the NHS in Wales and that the buck stops with her.  That is a clear line of national accountability. Whilst it may suit local Labour politicians in this instance, to divert responsibility from the Assembly, there is no doubt that it is with the Labour Government of Wales that the ultimate responsibility lies.”

In 2007 Plaid’s Helen Mary Jones played a leading role in ensuring that the Accident and Emergency services at Prince Philip Hospital would be retained as a condition of the One Wales agreement between Labour and Plaid.  That coalition proved to be very successful over the four year term of the last Welsh Government. Now left to their own devices the Labour Party in Cardiff Bay are putting our A & E services under threat again.

Plans to cut Accident and Emergency services at Prince Philip Hospital

Former Llanelli AM Helen Mary Jones has expressed her shock that accident and emergency at Llanelli's Prince Philip Hospital are likely to be axed under plans to reorganise health services in west Wales.
Hywel Dda Health Board is looking at three options for the delivery of emergency care across the region and none of which include an Accident and Emergency department at Prince Philip Hospital.  

Local health campaigner and former Llanelli AM Helen Mary Jones said: "I'm shocked to hear the news that Llanelli could lose Accident and Emergency services at Prince Philip. It saddens me particularly when the people of Llanelli were promised that all services would be retained by Labour politicians during May's election campaign. When Plaid was in power we ensured that as part of the agreement with the Labour party we would maintain Accident and Emergency services at Prince Philip. Plaid ensured that investment came to Llanelli and it was during our period of government people saw the opening of a £6.6m breast care unit. Now Labour are a minority government they have given the green light to downgrading hospital services."
 

Visit to Ypres

Ypres - Then and Now  (YouTube Clip)

Battle of the Menin Road  (YouTube Clip)


In November I was privillaged to represent Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Authority at the Menin Gate Ceremony, Ypres on Armistice day the 11/11/2011 accompanied by fellow Fire Authority member Steve Lloyd Janes, and ably guided by Service General Manager Roger Thomas and Station Manager Gary Williams.

What struck one immediately on visiting Ypres were the number of cemeteries (some 170)  that were concentrated within such a small area. Knowing the numbers does not somehow bring the true reality of the carnage – to be there brings the reality of what happened almost 100 years ago, literally in front of our eyes.  There are some 170 cemeteries within the vicinity of the town. Gary our guide with his wealth of knowledge of the history and his infectious enthusiasm was an inspiration to open our eyes to the enormity of the devastation.

It’s a history lesson that unfortunately we are slow to learn. Our politicians are still too ready to go to war. Ypres these days has the title of "city of peace" and maintains a close friendship with another town on which war had a profound impact: Hiroshima. Both towns witnessed warfare at its worst: Ypres was one of the first places where chemical warfare was employd, while Hiroshima suffered the debut of nuclear warfare. The city governments of Ypres and Hiroshima advocate that cities should never be targets again and campaign for the abolition of nuclear weapons. The City of Ypres hosts the international campaign secretariat of Mayors for Peace, an international Mayoral organization mobilizing cities and citizens worldwide to abolish and eliminate nuclear weapons by the year 2020. Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign

 During World War I, Ypres was the centre of intense and sustained battles between the German and the Allied forces. Of the battles, the largest, best-known, and most costly in human suffering was the Third Battle of Ypres (21 July to 6 November 1917, also known as the Battle of Passchendaele), in which the British, Canadians, ANZAC, and French forces recaptured the Passchendaele Ridge east of the city at a terrible cost of lives. After months of fighting, this battle resulted in nearly half a million casualties to all sides, and only a few miles of ground won by Allied forces. Indeed the front line hardly moved throughout the period of the war. During the course of the war the town was all but obliterated by the artillery fire.

Battle of Ypes (You tube Clip)

The Menin Gate

  The Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing is a war memorial in Ypres, dedicated to the commemoration of British and Commonwealth soldiers who were killed in the Ypres Salient of the First World War and whose graves are unknown. The memorial is located at the eastern exit of the town and marks the starting point for one of the main roads out of the town that led Allied soldiers to the front line.

Its large Hall of Memory contains names on stone panels of 54,896 Commonwealth soldiers who died in the Salient but whose bodies have never been identified or found.

Every evening at 20:00, buglers from the local fire brigade close the road which passes under the Memorial and sound the Last Post. Except for the occupation by the Germans in World War II  this ceremony has been carried on uninterrupted since 2 July 1928
The ceremony is a solemn occasion, and therefore not intended as entertainment or a tourist attraction. The buglers usually remain at the scene for a short while after the ceremony, at which point appreciation can be expressed in person; it is not considered appropriate to applaud during, or after, the ceremony.

Menin Gate Memorial at night (Flikr Photo)


Poppy petals released from the ceiling of  the Menin Gate monument during the 11/11/11 ceremony

The names of just a few of the 54,896 soldiers who's bodies  have never been found (Flikr Photo)

Labour Hypocracy Again

Labour is at it again.  Protesting at one level of democracy but doing the opposite at the very level they have power to do something about it.

See press release below. (Seems to have  disappeared from Robert Lloyd's blog so cant link)

I notes that Clr Jan Williams is “ determined to see that Team Carmarthenshire  (Labour) does all it can to give support  Council staff.” Well she should start with Labour leader Cllr Kevin Madge, the two other Labour members who are on the executive board of  the Council, Cllr Pat Jones, and Cllr Huw Evans,  and the other 8 Labour members on the CCC.

 The solution is in Labour’s hands.Another Election promise broken. 

 “Defending Wales from Tory cuts”???

Press Release by Labour

Worries about pay cuts for Carmarthenshire staff

Press release issued by Carmarthenshire County Labour Party's “Team Carmarthenshire” -
The Carmarthenshire County Labour Party “Team Carmarthenshire” have expressed their deep concern at the situation in the County Council regarding pay cuts for county staff.
Chair of Team Carmarthenshire Llanelli's Jan Williams said:“I am disgusted at what I am hearing from Council staff concerning massive cuts in pay, and with some staff members being bullied into signing agreements to have their pay reduced.
"I am dismayed at the reports we have been receiving at these swingeing cuts being forced on lower paid workers. I am determined to see that Team Carmarthenshire does all it can to give support to Council staff.”
Team Carmarthenshire Secretary, Carmarthen Town Councillor Philip Grice said:“We understand that this is both a cross-party issue – and an extremely complicated one.
"Accordingly, I have written to Chief Executive Mark James to seek an explanation as to what is happening. Once we have more details of the situation we will seek to sit down with Trade Union leaders to plan a way forward.
“We have been contacted by a number of distraught Council staff members, mostly the lower paid, who have expressed their shock at the pay cuts they are being asked to accept. In some cases the sums involved are cuts of £3000 a year. We want to do all that we can to protect the livelihoods of Council Workers.
“We are asking Labour County Councillors to take action in support of these workers and we are most grateful for the help and advice we are receiving from the Labour MP and the AM, Nia Griffith and Keith Price Davies.”
This Press Release has been issued by Philip Grice 01267 235073 – philgrice@:live.co.uk

Posted by Robert Lloyd at 14:38

Reactions:

Embrace 21st Century Technology

Plaid Calls for Council to embrace new technology.

Plaid Cymru County Councillor Dyfrig Thomas has called on the
Independent/Labour administration to embrace new technology at its
public meetings and bring its public engagement into the 21^st century.

Cllr Thomas said

"Sound recording as well as filming would give greater transparency, and

create a powerful and effective means of holding decision-makers to
public account. After the fiasco at the meeting of the 8^th of June when

Mrs Thompson was removed from the gallery, the public just cannot
understand what was wrong in filming the proceedings. She was not
interfering with the meeting in any way.

"A sound system is already in place in the chamber and two fixed cameras

would be sufficient to pan the whole chamber. It could be done with the
minimum of cost and would require very little resources. There would be
a true record of the proceedings, and lower grade managers could become
aware of councillors views.

Cllr Thomas added that the way forward is to form a working group to
look at how best to proceed.

Judge Keith Davies A.M.'s Record

From his comments in the Star last week (18/5/11) our new A.M. has some very ambitious plans indeed.
Apparently he will judge his success as Llanelli’s A.M at the end of this term by Prince Phillip Hospital being expanded, and by an increase in the number of care homes in Llanelli.

Now it is Carmarthenshire County Council that will decide the future of care homes, and not the Assembly. (one assumes he is referring to local authority care homes, as he claims to be a socialist). Perhaps Mr Davies should be reminded that six of Labour County Councillors voted for closure of Caemaen and st Paul’s, and only three voted against. In the unlikely event of Labour winning control at next year’s local election, and knowing their past track record Mr Davies’ pipedream of expanding local authority care homes is just that – a pipedream.

In the same edition of the Star there is a report that a £9 million clinical decision unit (CDU) is planned for Carmarthen. The development is awaiting approval from the Labour Assembly Government. We await the Health Minister’s decision with interest. We may very well be able to judge our new A. M.’s broken promises earlier than he thought.