Wales hospital closures 'will put lives at risk'
Friday 18 January 2013
Printable
EmailThe decision to close two north Wales community hospitals and move a specialist baby-care unit will put lives at risk, a Welsh Assembly member warned today.
Hospitals in Flint and Llangollen will both be shut as part of a radical reoganisation of health services in Wales.
A specialist neonatal intensive care unit will also be moved to the Wirral in north-west England.
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which serves around 676,000 people, announced the closures today in the face of opposition from local GPs.
Plaid Cymru AM for north Wales Llyr Hughes Gruffudd hit out at the "closure, downgrading and centralisation" of services.
He said: "I fear this decision is putting lives at risk and it is inexplicable that it should be made in the face of clinical advice and opposition from respected professional bodies such as the Royal College of Nursing and British Medical Association."
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