I will be holding advice surgeries on the following dates in February and March:
Please ring my constituency office on 01443 682550 or 685261 to book appointments in advance. For any urgent enquiries, or if you are unable to attend a surgery, please contact my constituency office.
I was pleased to welcome the Ystradyfodwg Art Society to the Assembly's Pierhead Building where they are holding an exhibition of their very diverse and interesting work over the next four weeks in the Upper Gallery. If you are visiting the Assembly, do pop along and see it!
100 years ago tomorrow the Rhondda Labour Party was accepted into membership of the British Labour Party. We held a celebration event with Llafur, the Society for the Study of Welsh Labour History, on Saturday.
Here you can see displayed some of the banners we have had made which will be on display in our Tonypandy office.
Chris Bryant MP and I were invited to visit a sorting office in the Rhondda by the Royal Mail. We chose the Treorchy sorting office which has been under threat.
I was pleased to join members of the GMB, Unison and Unite on 3 Rhondda picket lines this morning, at Clydach Vale, Ty Elai and Bronwydd.
At this evening’s Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council meeting, Rhondda Labour Councillors will be supporting the campaign for the Minor Injuries Unit to be re-opened. Dr Chris Jones is due to speak at the Council meeting and Rhondda Labour Councillors will be questioning him about this issue. The Rhondda Labour Party has also prepared the following leaflet:
As promised, I wrote to Dr Chris Jones, Chair of Cwm Taf Health Board, to express my concerns about the temporary closure of the Minor Injuries Unit at Ysbyty Cwm Rhondda. The full text of my letter can be seen below:
25 October 2011
Dear Chris,
There is unquestionable anger about the run-down of services at Ysbyty Cwm Rhondda, including both the Minor Injuries Unit and the Out of Hours service.
It is now clear that the step by step cuts in service at the MIU over the last year were the precursor to the temporary closure. Questions are being asked about the commitment of the LHB to reinstating the MIU.
While I understand the need to protect the A & E at Royal Glamorgan, and certainly I do not want my constituents to be forced to travel to Merthyr for Accident or Emergency support, the MIU was key to the new hospital in Llwynypia.
People find it hard to understand how the LHB has failed to plan for the staffing challenges it now faces.
I have asked a number of questions of the LHB over the last week, and not all the information I have requested has been supplied. I would be grateful for the data on the numbers attending the MIU and the number of Rhondda residents using A & E at RGH as soon as possible.
I know how important this facility is to local people and I want an assurance that this is only a temporary measure. I would also like clarification from the Health Board as to when you plan to re-open the Unit, and the rationale behind what has happened to Out of Hours.
Yours sincerely,
Leighton Andrews AM
Assembly Member for the Rhondda
On Friday, members of the Rhondda Labour Party unanimously decided to campaign for the re-opening of the Minor Injuries Unit in Llwynypia. At the party's All-Member meeting, attended by 60 people, members demonstrated their commitment to uniting with hospital trades unions in defence of the MIU.
We have created a petition that you can download and print out – feel free to circulate copies across your communities and then drop them back to the constituency office, or post them to the Freepost address at the bottom of the petition.
Since hearing about the temporary closure, I have been very concerned about the impact on local people. Many constituents have been in touch with me over the past few days and I am raising a number of questions with the Local Health Board (LHB).
The LHB says that the closure is a temporary measure, due to acute staffing constraints at the Accident and Emergency (A & E) Department in the Royal Glamorgan Hospital, and the need to cover these with support from the Emergency Nurse Practitioners from Ysbyty Cwm Rhondda. They have also stated that they are trying to resolve the staffing challenges that have precipitated this action.
I have discussed the issues facing A&E and the MIU with the Local Health Board during recent meetings. I know how important this facility is to local people and I am determined that this closure should not become permanent.
Along with Rhondda MP Chris Bryant, I will be making every effort to resolve this issue and preserve the Minor Injuries Unit well into the future. I will continue to make representations to the LHB on behalf of constituents and will keep you updated if more information becomes available.
