Madam,

Last week, the First Minister, speaking in Llandaff Cathedral, said that it was a time “to remember and reflect upon the sacrifices made by the one million men who were wounded or killed during the Battle of the Somme”, adding that “those who fought bravely for our futures should never be forgotten”.

At the end of the Great War, the quarrying community of Ffestiniog and the Welsh Uplands scrimped and saved at a time of incredible hardship to build a fitting memorial (ie a purpose-built hospital designed by the world-renowned

architect Clough Williams-Ellis) to the memory of 353 of our young men who lost their lives on the Western Front.

In 2013, Betsi Cadwaladr health board decided to withdraw healthcare services from the hospital and to close the facility.

This has led to much suffering by residents who are now denied access to the service that survivors of the Great War strove so hard to provide.

Despite many letters, petitions and even a Healthcare Inspectorate Wales critical report, the First Minister and two consecutive health ministers have, time and time again, refused to visit

Ffestiniog to experience the situation for themselves.

Their obvious lack of concern can but suggest that they regard sacrifices made by troops from the Welsh Uplands as being somehow less significant than those from other parts of the country.

It is depressing to think that a Labour government, in Wales of all places, the home of Aneurin Bevan, can show such a lack of respect!

Yours etc,

Geraint Jones, Bro Gennin, Ffestiniog.

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