Ionawr 15fed 2007....January 15th 2007

Plaid Cymru AM Dr. Dai Lloyd will quiz First Minister Rhodri Morgan at the Assembly on Tuesday on the future of the brain surgery unit at Morriston Hospital.

Dr. Lloyd, who has campaigned to save the unit for the past few months, is expected to ask the First Minister for a detailed explanation of why it is to take 9 months to decide finally between Swansea and Cardiff for the location of the South Wales neurosurgery centre.

Dr. Lloyd stated:

“I simply cannot understand why this review that the Minister has requested is to take 9 months. This delay is a pure election strategy by the Labour party in the run-up to May’s poll. The Labour party and the 22 Labour AM’s who are against keeping the unit in Swansea know that there could be an electoral backlash if it were to decide to move the unit before May.

“Unfortunately, we have been here before. In 2003, the then Labour Assembly Government decided to kick into the long-grass the decision whether to move children’s brain surgery from Morriston to Cardiff. Following the election the decision was taken to do just that. We cannot let the same thing happen again.

“I will be asking the First Minister to outline exactly why it will take 9 months to carry out this review, with much of the areas under review, such as ambulance response times, already in the public domain and been subject to much public scrutiny already.

“People in Swansea and South West Wales need to be clear that it is only Plaid Cymru that is committed to keeping brain surgery in Swansea. AMs in every other party, including the Lib-Dems and Tories, want to move it from Swansea.”

Diwedd/Ends.