THE DELAYED renal dialysis unit in Llandrindod ‘should be up and running by the end of the summer’, was the answer to a question posed to the new health minister by AM Kirsty Williams.
The County Times reported on the current status of the planned dialysis unit last week, after receiving a letter from Powys County Councillor Gary Price.
Cllr Price said he had written to the new health minister Lesley Griffiths and asked when the unit would be fully operational, but a Welsh Government spokesperson said the minister had not yet received the letter.
The spokesperson also stated that the unit was expected to be open ‘later this summer’.
Now the AM for Brecon and Radnorshire has stated she also wrote to the new minister when she was appointed in May and the written answer response was received on June 2.
In answer to Kirsty’s question, ‘Will the Minister make a statement on the progress of a dialysis unit in Llandrindod Wells?’, the Minister responded by saying that the Welsh Renal Clinical Network, who are co-ordinating the delivery of the unit, expected the unit to be up and running later this summer.
“I have been lobbying Welsh Government ministers for years now to establish a dialysis unit in Llandrindod and prevent the long and arduous journeys patients face to get to Hereford Hospital,” the Liberal Democrat AM has said.
“This unit is long overdue and I am pleased that by working in partnership with local people, we will soon be able to treat people much closer to their homes."
Ms Williams was in Llandrindod Wells this week helping to open a new board walk through the Rock Park, dedicated to the hard work of long-serving town councillor Ken Richards.