The latest chapter in the unfortunate recent history of neurosurgery in Wales was reported in yesterday’s Western Mail. The neurosurgery unit at Morriston Hospital, Swansea, we are told, could close owing to a lack of middle-grade surgeons. Morriston and Cardiff are now the only two neurosurgery units in Wales.
It will be recalled that in July, 2007, the Welsh health minister, Edwina Hart, announced a plan whereby all elective neurosurgery generated in Wales wshuld be directed to the two South Wales units, thereby preserving their viability. This provoked enormous opposition in North Wales, and a well-orchestrated campaign of protest resulted in a U-turn by Mrs Hart after she had commissioned a report on neurosurgery services by Mr James Steers.
It should be remembered, however, that Health Commission Wales (HCW) had, in 2007, produced a report which said, essentially, that there was insufficient capacity in South Wales for two neurosurgery units. The indication was that Morriston should close.
Mrs Hart had been active in the campaign to preserve the Morriston unit prior to the 2007 Welsh Assembly elections. It was she who, upon becoming health minister, overruled the HCW recommendations, which clearly did not meet with her approval, and came up with the ludicrous “All Wales” plan.
Now it looks very much as if, at least in the short term, despite Mrs Hart’s endeavours, there will be a loss of complex neurosurgery at Morriston.
Mrs Hart may yet have to bite the bullet, dust off the HCW report, and accept its conclusion that there is no room for two neurosurgery units in South Wales.
