A Bronglais Hospital patient suffered a “difficult” 36-hour wait in A&E before getting a ward bed, and refurbishment and merging of two wards led to storage problems and “friction” between staff, an inspection report has found.

Hywel Dda Community Health Council has urged the health board to ensure it takes on board issues raised during visits to the hospital in November last year and January, especially with concerns over how refurbishment work was carried out to merge the Iorwerth and Cardiac Monitoring Unit wards to create the new Dyfi Ward.

Work to create the new integrated ward was said to have led to issues with storage of items during the refurbishment, with an inspection report also saying there had been concerns raised about the staff from the two former wards working together.

While the report said there was praise from patients for staff and their hard work, it said there had been an issue with one patient having to wait 36 hours in A&E before she was able to be moved to a bed in Meurig Ward.

It says: “We heard that people being cared for on Meurig Ward were generally very happy with their care.

“Most people had arrived on the ward having been admitted from the A&E department.

“One person told us she had spent a difficult 36 hours in A&E before getting a bed on the ward.”

The report raised concerns over Dyfi Ward, particularly about problems with equipment having to be stored in corridors while work was being carried out.

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