Patients are being urged not to go to Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr by the Aneurin Bevan Health Board, if they can be seen by their GP.
The Local Emergency Centre (LEC) at the new hospital provides is available 24 hours a day for people with minor injuries.
Claire McCarthy, Lead Emergency Nurse Practitioner, said “We do need to explain to the public what services are available in the Local Emergency Centre. Patients can present here with any minor injury problem e.g. suspected broken limbs, minor head and face injuries, wounds and minor eye problems.
“People with, for instance, crushing central chest pain, or signs of a stroke should go straight to A&E. We have also been getting patients that really should be going to their own GP and we do then have to refer them back there.”
“The Local Emergency Centre is now really starting to pick up pace. On a busy Monday we can see 100 patients which will ensure our skills are kept at a very high level.”
Patients attending Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr with a minor injury will receive excellent care and attention and their waiting time will be shorter if the Local Emergency Centre is used appropriately, according to A&E consultant Jane Gwilliam.
She said: “The local population will get prompt and excellent care of their minor injuries preventing them from having to travel to busy A&E units where they will inevitably have to wait much longer.
“The staff have all been highly trained to recognise when the condition is more serious and needs medical attention by a doctor. Hence if a patient does result in being redirected, it is for the benefit of the patient.”
The GP Out of Hours Service is also based in the Local Emergency Centre and, according to the health board, ensures the hospital has close links with local GP surgeries and primary care services in the community.
The new multi-million pound hospital has had a controversial start since opening last year.
The £172m hospital in Ystrad Mynach opened its doors in November 2011, but the public have yet to take the hospital to their hearts citing a number of problems.
Residents and politicians have complained the new hospital isn’t what was promised and there is confusion as to what services are available.
Earlier this month Caerphilly Labour politicians Wayne David MP and Jeff Cuthbert AM met with health bosses after they received several complaints about Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr.
Issues that have been raised to Mr David and Mr Cuthbert include a lack of adequate signs outside and inside the hospital, inadequate nurse coverage of the individual bedrooms, poor catering and organisational problems.
As a result of the complaints, the two met with senior management Aneurin Bevan Health Board.
Caerphilly Observer has asked the health board to comment on the meeting but have yet to receive one.
Until the Health Board get a grip, and recognise the public desire to create a 24 hour accident and emergency unit at this cottage hospital there will always be confusion about who and why we should go to this facility, and, in what curcumstances may consider it is an emergency, self diagnosis does not produce the best prognosis for a person improved health, in fact, the opposite can be the case, causing more illhealth and more of a burdon on the NHS.
I have to make it clear for the avoidence of doubt, that I am sure that what is provided at this cottage hospital is health provision of the highest order, but, the public are more concerned at what is NOT provided and in that respect all politicians, and the local health board, have to get a grip, and provide what the public demand, which is, a fully staffed 24 hours Accident and Emergency Unit which can save the lives of countless citizens who may need to use it.
I hope Jeff Cuthbert is happy is his role in destroying health care in the Rhymney Valley, who need Andrew Lansley to destroy the Health Service when we have people like him. By the way the Beeches Trust is ahving a meeting on Saturday to preseve the old core of the Miners` hospital,that should be fun, meanwhile in the real world the rest of the Miners` site is yet again going to housing while we have a shanty of a hospital in Ystrad Mynach, Aneurin Beavn must be turning in his grave.
Not only is John Owen completely correct in his comments, it should also be noted that the Trustees who control THE BEECHES CHARITY have applied for Welsh Assembly Funds of at least £600.000.00, that`s six hundred thousand pounds in order to operate a Community Centre from the Miners location.
This is Welsh Assembly, public money, that would be better spent on health care of the citizens of Caerphilly borough by improving the provisions at the New Cottage unit at Ystrad Mynach.
Personally I don't see any point in going to Ystrad Fawr Assessment Centre unless it is for an out patient visit for a MRI scan or similar. When I was a schoolboy I could, and did, go to my local doctor for wounds to be sutured. Perhaps we would be better off if doctors once more offered A & E treatment as part of their service to their patient list?
As for taking a suspected stroke victim to A & E at places like the Royal Gwent I would advise against it. I did just that in December 2010 and both me and the patient spent the next 7 hours in a waiting room before a doctor examined the patient. Get the victim to the University Hospital Cardiff, preferably in an ambulance. They will have a greater chance of survival and less chance of permanent disability. It is ironic that the new assessment centre boasts a “specialist stroke unit” and yet they, apparently, cannot treat someone who has just suffered a stroke.
I predict we will watch various politicians spinning like tops to explain to the voters why a proper hospital has been closed and replaced by this, very pretty, but ineffectual facility. What they should do is simple, get in tune with the public and campaign for a 24 hour A & E at Ystrad Fawr.
I cant see Jeff Cuthbert and Wayne David campaigning for a 24 Hour A and E at Ystrad Fawr since they, and the Labour Party placemen, that run the Aneurin Bevan Health Board are responsible for the health disaster that is Ystrad Fawr, do they send each other emails, or even emails to themselves demanding a 24 Hour A and E service?. What I find even more bizarre is that Plaid Cymru rather than supporting the public in demands for a proper hospital, praise the virtues of Ystrad Fawr, have they forgotten their raison de`tre and have become another middle class bourgeois party? with all that implies.
I cant see the point of this hospital its a wast of time going there for any thing because you,l only be told to go to the gwent in my mind this is just a home for old ppl.We had a lovely hospital in the miners which .catered well for the community We need and deserve a 24 hr A&E at Ystrad Fawr Hospital.