{"id":774281,"date":"2026-09-18T03:16:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T03:16:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/774281\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T03:16:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T03:16:25","slug":"powys-health-board-considers-biggest-service-shake-up-for-a-generation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/774281\/","title":{"rendered":"Powys health board considers biggest service shake-up for a generation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Under the options being considered, external<\/a>, inpatient wards would be retained in Brecon and Newtown, with Llandrindod Wells potentially remaining open under the three-site model. <\/p>\n

Beds could be lost at Welshpool, Machynlleth, Ystradgynlais and Llanidloes, as well as Llandrindod Wells under the two-site option.<\/p>\n

Changes being considered are part of Powys Teaching Health Board’s Better Together, external<\/a> programme with the health board saying that action is needed to “make services safe and sustainable” as demand for care increases.<\/p>\n

Changes are needed to respond to “major challenges facing health services” at a time of rising demand, when people are living longer often with many long-term health conditions, it said. <\/p>\n

Powys also has one of the oldest populations in Wales, with more than a quarter of the population over 65.<\/p>\n

It is also becoming increasingly difficult for the health board to recruit and retain staff with the skills it needs, while delivering services in a large, rural county is also challenging.<\/p>\n

According to the health board’s proposals would mean longer journeys for some patients with the average travel time to inpatient care rising from about 12 minutes to 24 minutes. <\/p>\n

For people living furthest from hospitals, average journey times would be more than 45 minutes each way.<\/p>\n

Dr Carl Cooper, chair of Powys Teaching Health Board, said confirmation of the consultation marked the “beginning of a conversation, not the end of one”.<\/p>\n

“No outcome has been predetermined,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The recommendations approved today have been informed by feedback from thousands of patients, residents, NHS staff and partner organisations over the last two years.<\/p>\n

“We will need to understand the evidence, experiences, concerns and alternatives raised during consultation and give them conscientious consideration in public before any final decision can be made.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Under the options being considered, external, inpatient wards would be retained in Brecon and Newtown, with Llandrindod Wells…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":774282,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-774281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}