Speaking at a Conwy County Council meeting this week, Cllr Cheryl Carlisle criticised the health board for “deferring” a health and wellbeing hub planned to serve West Conwy.

A report, presented at a health board meeting, last week revealed a new health care centre for Conwy, Llandudno Junction, and the wider area had been put on hold.

According to the papers, similar community health hubs planned for Bangor, Caledryn, Holyhead, Penygroes, Rhyl, Waunfawr, and Porthmadog are all at various stages of development.

Rhyl’s Royal Alexandra Well-Being Hub, though, remains “not approved at this stage”.

But Conwy’s community hub centre – a “consolidation of services” offering “more sustainable” care in the community – has also now been put on hold.

Despite being approved by Welsh Government in 2023, the health board says the centre has been deferred following a “prioritisation exercise” with “funding returned to Welsh Government”.

The proposed location of the healthcare centre and how much funding was allocated remain unknown.

But the former Ysgol Nant y Coed in Llandudno Junction, now being considered for affordable housing, was being looked at along with several other sites.

Discussed

Chairing the finances and resources overview and scrutiny committee meeting at the council’s Coed Pella HQ this week, Cllr Carlisle warned other members the matter should not be discussed.

But Cllr Carlisle took aim at the health board, slamming the decision during a time of “health emergencies” with many residents struggling to get a GP appointment.

“This is not for discussion at all given previous restricted content discussions, but those of you that read the Betsi Cadwaladr board papers on Thursday, November 27, will have found out via those board papers that the West Conwy Health Precinct has now been shelved by Betsi and the money sent back to Welsh Government,” she said.

“It is an absolute and utter disgrace what they have done. It has been shelved until possibly 2028-2029; those of us got to find out. And given all the focus of our concerns about GP services and health within Conwy and the health emergencies that are out there, it is an absolute and utter disgrace that they’ve done this, and to send the money back to Welsh Government, well, that just says it all really doesn’t it?”

Letting people down

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Carlisle added: “We all know the pressures our GPs and health professionals are working under here in Conwy and the fact that they have done this beggars belief, Betsi Cadwaladr letting the people of Conwy down again.”

The health board’s report described the centre as a consolidation of services.

The report stated that the “Conwy West Health and Well-Being Centre” would have offered “the consolidation of services currently spread across Conwy West, enabling expansion, improved integration, and delivery of more sustainable, holistic care”.

The report also said the plan “supports the sustainability of Primary and Community Care through a more integrated health and care service model” that would have been “delivered via the development of safe, modern, integrated facilities serving Conwy, Llandudno Junction, and the wider area”.

But the report added that the “Strategic Outline Case (SOC) approved by WG (Welsh Government) in 2023″ would be “deferred until 2028–2029 following prioritisation exercise and funding returned to WG”.