LLANELLI: How many scabies cases are there at Prince Philip? MS demands ministers say, ten days into ward closures

A Senedd member has called on the Welsh Government to make an urgent statement on the scabies outbreak at Prince Philip Hospital, ten days after Hywel Dda closed wards and restricted visiting without saying how many patients were affected.

Claire Archibald, Reform UK MS for Ceredigion Penfro and the party’s shadow minister for social care, said ministers needed to say how many cases there were, when they first knew and what investigations had found about where the outbreak began.

Visiting at the Llanelli hospital has been restricted since Sunday 27 September, when the health board said “a number of wards” were closed by infection. It has published nothing further on the outbreak since.

It is the second time since July that scabies has closed wards at a Hywel Dda hospital, after Steffan Ward at Glangwili in Carmarthen was shut by crusted scabies, a severe form of the condition.

Archibald said: “Repeated scabies outbreaks have closed wards in West Wales, and we still need clear answers about how many people are affected.”

“Ministers can’t leave this to the health board and hope it goes away. They need to tell us how many cases there are, when they first knew, and what investigations have established about where this outbreak came from and how it has spread.”

What the health board has said

When the restrictions came in, Sharon Daniel, Hywel Dda‘s executive director of nursing, said the decision had been taken to limit the spread “on our site and in our community”, with patients, staff and their contacts being treated and wards deep cleaned.

The board said cases were being managed in hospitals and community settings across its area and the risk to the wider public was low. It did not put a number on them, and has not since.

The Minor Injury Unit stayed open, and patients whose planned appointments were affected were to be contacted.

‘Patients, staff and our NHS deserve protection’

Archibald, who worked in healthcare before her election, said: “We need robust health checks and strict infection control wherever there is a risk of scabies spreading, backed by swift treatment for those affected.”

“Ministers must explain why outbreaks keep closing wards and set out a clear plan to prevent this happening again. Patients, staff and our NHS deserve protection. The public deserves answers and action.”

Health is devolved, and Hywel Dda answers to Mabon ap Gwynfor, the Cabinet Minister for Health and Care.

Scabies is caused by mites burrowing into the skin and spreads mainly through prolonged skin-to-skin contact. The health board says it has nothing to do with hygiene and anyone can catch it; the main sign is intense itching, worse at night, with a rash often between the fingers and on the wrists.

Treatment is available from pharmacies and GPs, applied twice seven days apart, and everyone in a household should be treated at the same time, the board advises.

The outbreak comes as the hospital waits on the board’s decision on its stroke beds, due on 26 November.

Author

Kit Peters

Kit Peters is a journalist and the editor of Swansea Bay News, covering Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire since 2020.