Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board has denied claims that funding for heart clinics in Dwyfor and Meirionnydd will be cut, calling the allegation “entirely wrong”.

Mabon ap Gwynfor, health campaigner and Plaid Cymru’s National Assembly candidate in Dwyfor Meirionnydd, said he was contacted last month by GPs concerned about funding cuts for the clinics.

According to Mr ap Gwynfor, they fear the service is being put at risk because Betsi Calawadr Health University Health Board needs to make cuts, and community hospitals in Dolgellau, Tywyn, Blaenau Ffestiniog and Tremadog would all be affected, he feared.

Since 2015, BCUHB have funded community hospital based ‘one stop diagnostic clinics’ in which heart failure nurses and pharmacists look after the most seriously ill heart patients.

Mr ap Gwynfor said: “The health board has spent the last year unable to decide on whether to continue the service funding, despite the evidence presented of lives improved and hospital admissions saved.”

Mr ap Gwynfor added that there is evidence that the focus on community primary care is beneficial in reducing admissions in district hospitals.

He said: “A report from 2018 demonstrated that the investment of £430,000 a year in the community heart failure service led to approximately a fall of between a quarter and a half in heart failure admissions to our North Wales District General Hospitals.”

A spokesperson for BCUHB said the claims were “entirely wrong” and they want to make sure the service remains in place.

The spokesperson said: “It’s entirely wrong to suggest we are looking to cut funding to this service. We asked the service to complete a business case which takes into account an evaluation of the service and its performance, as well as detail on how it can be replicated in other areas of north Wales. As with all requests the health board receives to commit funding, we need to go through a robust evaluation of the benefits of non-recurring projects to ensure the best use of public funds.

“This request for a business case is not about stopping the service, but about ensuring we have the best approach to providing this service to people across North Wales. More work is needed to ensure this business case takes into account the future development and provision of the service.”

They added: “We fully recognise the value of the heart failure service, and are actively working with the service so that, together, we can continue to ensure this service remains available to people in North Wales.”