The health board covering north Wales is consulting on shutting urgent primary care centres at three hospitals, in Holyhead, Tremadog and Bangor, blaming tight finances and trouble hiring staff. Opponents warn the cuts would push more patients onto GP surgeries and emergency departments.
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which serves roughly a quarter of the Welsh population, would close the services by 31 March 2027 if the plan is approved. The affected sites are Ysbyty Penrhos Stanley on Holy Island, Ysbyty Alltwen near Tremadog and Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor.
The centres treat people with urgent problems on the same day, using GPs, advanced nurse practitioners and physiotherapists, much like urgent treatment centres in England. Wales began opening them in 2020 to take pressure off family doctors and hospital emergency units, and the three in the north-west date from 2022.
Politicians and councillors push back
Elected officials across party lines have written to the board objecting. They include Llinos Medi, the Plaid Cymru MP for Ynys Môn; Helen Jenner, leader of Reform Wales and a Member of the Senedd for Bangor Conwy Môn; and Conservative MS Janet Finch-Saunders, who represents the same seat.
These centres help to relieve pressure on our accident and emergency departments when people are unable to get an appointment with their GP but require immediate care.
Janet Finch-Saunders, Conservative MS for Bangor Conwy Môn
The Holyhead site worries them most. Ysbyty Penrhos Stanley already lost its four-bed hospice unit, run by St David's Hospice, in 2025.
Jeff Evans, a Holyhead county councillor, said closure would leave residents with nowhere to turn but surgeries and emergency departments that are already overstretched. He said patients, doctors and nurses in the community would not accept the change.
Don't treat us like second-class citizens, don't take it away from us.
Jeff Evans, Holyhead county councillor
What the board and ministers say
Carol Shillabeer, the board's chief executive, said access to urgent and emergency care remains a priority. She said the board is reviewing how the centres are provided, talking with staff, and will shape a possible future approach over the coming months.
The Welsh government said decisions on how local NHS services are arranged belong to the health board, which it called best placed to judge its population's needs. It said it expects NHS bodies to consult stakeholders openly in line with national guidance.
Urgent primary care at Mold Community Hospital and Wrexham Maelor Hospital would not be affected.
A health system under strain
The board has been under special measures for years over concerns about the safety and standard of its care and its leadership, and in June it was told it had a final chance to improve.
Its troubles reflect wider strain. Six of Wales's seven health boards recently failed their legal duty to break even over three years, and in September Powys health board said it was considering cutting 100 community hospital beds.
NHS spending accounts for nearly half of the Welsh government's £27.5bn budget, and polls show the health service is voters' top concern, a challenge for the Plaid Cymru government elected in May.
