Council"s early victory in opening hours row (From Barry And District News)

Council"s early victory in opening hours row

TOWN councillors were triumphant last week as health officials announced they would reconsider the opening hours of the minor injuries unit at Barry hospital.

Barry town council and representatives from the Vale of Glamorgan Local Health Board and Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust met last week to discuss the controversial budget.

But for Plaid Cymru councillors, Barry Shaw and Steffan Wiliam, the opening times of the minor injuries unit at Barry Hospital were high priority on the agenda.

The health officials' agreement to reconsider opening hours came following a plea from Cllr Shaw.

Cllr Shaw, along with Cllr Wiliam, helped to reverse a decision made last year to close down the unit.

The unit is currently open from 10am until 4pm, Monday to Friday.

Cllr Shaw said: "Ten to four is just not good enough. The people of Barry have been short changed.

"They talk about waiting times in UHW (University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff) and the congestion on the roads.

"People driving back and forth from Barry to Cardiff and Barry is going to cause congestion.

"We are going to have blood on our hands soon."

Cllr Shaw said after the meeting: "We got a sort of reassurance that they would look at the situation, but we don't know when.

"I know I'm being dramatic but we could have fatalities on our hands."

Cllr Wiliam added: "Currently in Barry there is an unofficial warning that you should not get injured after 4pm on a Friday.

"Barry is Wales' largest town and serves a large catchment area. It is disgraceful that we don't have extended opening hours in the minor injuries unit.

"I am happy that the Trust and the Health Board made a concession at the meeting, and I trust them to look into the situation."

The Vale health board is facing cuts of around 2 million in this year's health budget and the Trust is also set to be under-funded by around 14 million.

The meeting was held so the town council could express its concerns about the impact such financial problems could have on patients from Barry.