A second consultation on the future of stroke services at Bronglais Hospital has been launched by Hywel Dda University Health Board while a campaign group has written to the new Plaid Cymru health minister urging him to intervene to stop the “dangerous and unsafe” plan.

Ahead of the elections Plaid Cymru politicians and Senedd candidates pledged to save services at Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth by resurrecting a decade-long ambition to turn it into a Hospital of Rural Excellence.

The Protect Bronglais Services group, set up amid the latest threats to the hospital’s stroke services, has now written to the Welsh Government to urge them to remember that pledge and to help secure the future of the hospital amid threats to services.

Elin Jones and Mabon ap Gwynfor - then Plaid Cymru’s Shadow Health Minister and now Welsh Government Health Minister following the party’s election victory - united earlier this year to jointly pledge that Bronglais becomes a Hospital of Rural Excellence, while calling for major upgrades at the hospital.

Protect Bronglais Services wrote to Mr ap Gwynfor following the election asking him to push ahead with the pledge.

“We need a hospital serving the communities of Mid Wales that caters to our needs which is managed in a dynamic and innovative way and a health system that does not make us poorer and make rural deprivation worse because we have to take days off work, organise child / elder care, fill up the tank with petrol / diesel to travel to hospitals elsewhere,” the group said.

“Moreover, the people of Mid Wales have a moral, ethical and legal right to the same level of healthcare as anyone else.

“Whilst we appreciate there are many challenges for you in your new role, PBS would like to know when you intend to start work around developing Bronglais as a hospital of rural excellence.”

Mr ap Gwynfor and Ms Jones said that the hospital has faced “wave after wave of downgrading proposals over the years”, the latest of which is the option to downgrade the Stroke Unit.

Earlier this year, Hywel Dda University Health Board continued to push ahead with plans to downgrade the stroke unit at Bronglais hospital despite calls to safeguard full stroke services.

In a separate letter to Mr ap Gwynfor, Protect Bronglais Services thanked him for his support to the campaign.

“The fact that over 17,800 people the length and breadth of Mid Wales signed our Senedd Petition to prevent this from happening spoke volumes about the strength of feeling about the importance of this Unit within such a geographically significant hospital,” the group said.

“There is a feeling of collective dismay at what is happening to Bronglais – we are customers of three different health boards, but only one District General Hospital.”

Mr ap Gwynfor, as well as MS Elin Jones, supported the campaign to protect stroke services at Bronglais.

During a debate in October, Mr ap Gwynfor said: “There are two ways to view the Bronglais hospital.

“One is from the viewpoint of a finance officer.

“On paper, Bronglais is a nuisance, and placing stroke services in the south of the region may seem efficient.

“But, with an established specialist service already nearby in Morriston, it makes no practical sense.

“The other way to view Bronglais is from the viewpoint not of the finance officer, but of the patient.

“Viewed from this end of the prism, Bronglais is a solution to many of our health problems.

“Indeed, it’s a life saver.

“If boards worked together across Hywel Dda, Swansea bay, Betsi Cadwaladr and Powys, they would see that Bronglais is the hospital best placed to serve as a regional centre of excellence.

“Bronglais should be viewed as solution, not a problem.

“We all accept the need to modernise, but sustainability can’t come at the expense of access, quality or clinical excellence.

“This plan must be rethought, with genuine regional collaboration, with a patient focus, specialist leadership, and a commitment to care that’s close to home.”

New Conservative Ceredigion Penfro MS Paul Davies has met with the health board and said he “made it very clear that I oppose any centralisation of services from Withybush hospital and Bronglais Hospital - in particular emergency general surgery services at Withybush and the stroke unit at Bronglais.”

“I also told the Health Board that it needs a change of mindset when it comes to delivering services and that I will continue to stand up for my constituents and oppose them on any plans to remove services from hospitals in Ceredigion Penfro,” he added.

Hywel Dda University Health board approved plans to launch a second phase of public consultation on the future of stroke services at Bronglais Hospital at its meeting on 28 May.

A public consultation on the Clinical Services Plan last year drew more than 4,000 responses and led to a large protest meeting in Aberystwyth’s Great Hall, and more than 17,000 signing one of the biggest petitions in the Senedd’s 26-year history.

Health board members in February were told the current service being offered was not achieving the standards required, but the board was told the service is safe currently.

No definite decision was made at that meeting on the future of stroke services, but a new plan then emerged.

The new plan - an amalgamation of new options presented to the health board in February - will now go out to a second consultation as a preferred option, the health board said.

The preferred option would create a 24-hour acute stroke and rehabilitation unit at Glangwili Hospital; a stroke rehabilitation unit at Bronglais Hospital, with treat and transfer for stroke provided from Bronglais, Prince Philip and Withybush hospitals.

Protect Bronglais Services said the proposal “still results in the long distance ‘treat and transfer’ of stroke patients and there is still no sign of any detail around the ‘transfer’ element of the plan.”

“In effect, this is really no different to what was being proposed before except that Glangwili is some 16 miles nearer to Bronglais than Llanelli,” the group said.

In their letter to Mr ap Gwynfor, Protect Bronglais Services said: “Now that the ‘purdah period’ of the Senedd election is over and there is a new Welsh Government in situ, PBS is very concerned that Hywel Dda Health Board intend to press ahead with these proposals.

“Given your stance during our campaign and indeed, your compelling words during the debate, PBS now ask you as our Welsh Government Health Minister to please intervene to ensure that this unsafe and dangerous plan to move Bronglais stroke patients to Glangwili for their rehabilitation, is not allowed to progress.”

Hywel Dda said that “stroke services are fragile and currently do not meet clinical standards.”

“The service is currently spread across four hospital sites, and the Health Board does not have specialist cover seven days a week,” the health board said.

“This can lead to patient outcomes that are not as good as they could be.

“Change is needed to ensure services are safe, sustainable, accessible and kind for patients and staff.”

No decision was made in February on the original proposals for stroke services in Hywel Dda, but two new options labelled 106 and 210 emerged ahead of the meeting that were discussed by board members.

During the meeting in February, members heard “it was felt that none of the options for stroke by themselves fully addressed the issues that were identified” and “after considering the consultation feedback, along with the petition submitted and discussed in the Senedd around changes to stroke services, it was felt that bringing parts of Option 106 and Option 210 together into a new option would best address these issues.”

“It was noted that, as these options came from the consultation and that our communities had not had an opportunity to discuss how this new option would impact them, a final decision could not be made until the preferred option had been through the same process as the other options, including hurdle appraisal, shortlist scoring and further engagement with our communities,” a health board report said.

“Once the preferred option had been through this process, it was anticipated that Board would be in a position to make a final decision on stroke service.”

Lee Davies, Executive Director of Strategy and Planning at Hywel Dda University Health Board, said: “We know how important stroke services are to our communities, and we are committed to taking the time needed to understand people’s views on the preferred option and the other options already consulted on, before any final decisions are made.

“We need to change our current service to ensure that people in our communities have the best possible outcomes and chance of recovery from a stroke.”

The health board said that the Clinical Services Plan consultation in the summer of 2025 “set out the issues that needed to be addressed within the service and allowed the opportunity for people to share feedback and alternative options.”

“Now that the options have been refined, and the issues have not changed, it is believed to be appropriate to undertake a second stage consultation to allow our communities to engage fully with the proposals,” the health board said.

“While the guidance sets out a minimum of six weeks, we believe that eight weeks would allow for more opportunity to reach as many communities as possible, both within and outside of Hywel Dda University Health Board area.”

The health board meeting on 28 May heard that issues with transport if a ‘treat and transfer# model for stroke patients was introduced at Bronglais Hospital was a “recurring theme.”

Hywel Dda University Health Board Chair Neil Wooding told the meeting on 28 May that the “disadvantage” over transport concerns has been heard “loud and clear”.

“We can’t not be concerned by those things,” he said.

“We’ve always said that developing a new approach to stroke services was very much contingent upon also being assured that there would be transportation and travel issues addressed as part of that process.

“A move towards consolidation and quality of services to the highest possible standard recognises that in so doing there will be transportation and travel challenges which may cause inequity in our communities.”

The meeting heard that “the purpose of the second phase of consultation would be to remind people of the issues that are facing our stroke services, provide the detail on the preferred option now that this has been worked up to the same level as the other options previously considered by Board and seek their views on how this option addresses issues identified and previous consultation feedback.

“As part of this consultation, we will also ask if people believe that one of the other four options previously considered by Board better addresses the issues highlighted.

“At this stage no decision has been made, and Board may wish to reconsider one of the other options if new information comes to light.

“During this second phase of consultation, we will not be seeking new alternative ideas for stroke services, as we captured these during the first phase of consultation.

“We will also not be reopening any decisions made for the other eight services included within the Clinical Services Plan or the future roles of our hospitals that were included in the first phase of consultation during summer 2025 and concluded at the extraordinary meeting of the Board in February.”

The consultation will run for eight weeks from 28 May until 26 July.

It will include public drop-in events, online public events, targeted group sessions, and community outreach.

The second consultation will cost £71,809 to undertake, documents show.

The health board said it would “seek to analyse the responses so that they can be brought to Board in November” but this “will be determined by level of responses received and may need to go to the next planned Board in January 2027.”

A final decision on the future of stroke services across Hywel Dda would then be made.