Plaid AM for Mid and West Wales and member of the assembly's kidney group, Nerys Evans, has welcomed the announcement that kidney patients in Pembrokeshire will no longer have to travel to Carmarthen or Swansea for dialysis. From the end of the year, interim services will be available at Withybush Hospital until a permanent renal unit opens there in 2011. Nerys Evans AM said: "I very much welcome this news because some patients have to regularly travel over 80 miles to Carmarthen or Swansea to access this service. As a member of the Cross Party Kidney Group, this is something I have been campaigning for since my election and I have had discussions with the Minister on many occasions to highlight the difficulties some patients have to face with travelling. "This decision will improve the care for patients and obviously will reduce the need to travel which will help improve their health and quality of life."
