Sir,

Two years ago I started to stir the 'murky pot' about the lack of movement on the use of Hywel Dda Health Board charitable funds for the Cancer Day Unit and Ward 10 at Withybush Hospital.

After I gained information on Pembrokeshire's charitable funds through a Freedom of Information request, and, following discussion at the Pembrokeshire Locality Meeting of the Health Board and Community Health Council, a newspaper article was printed entitled, 'Hospital to act after attack on stockpile of charity cash'.

In this article, hospital manager, Mandy Davies, said: "We are trying to make sure we are explicit on what people want the money to be spent on, otherwise we end up with pots of money that are difficult to use."

Mrs. Davies added: "We need to draw up a priority list of what we would like to buy out of charitable funds so that when people donate we can say - these are the things we would like to buy, where would you like the money to go?"

This has not happened. I know people who have given money, because loved ones have used Ward 10 and the CDU, but they have not been asked what they would like it spent on or told it goes into a cancer services pot and not necessarily for Ward 10 and the CDU.

My own concern was, and is, for the Cancer Day Unit and Ward 10 and at that time there was a total of £292,705 for Ward 10 and £239,477 for the CDU, all in charitable funds donated by Pembrokeshire people.

Since this time, two years ago, nothing has happened at all with the Cancer Day Unit and Ward 10. The charitable funds have been changed and now we have three pots of charitable funds, one called cancer services. No separate funds for Ward 10 or the CDU, but all in one pot, which allegedly can be spent anywhere throughout Hywel Dda.

A recent meeting of the Hywel Dda Charitable Funds Committee (September 2013) said they were going to ring-fence £250,000 for Ward 10 and £300,000 for the CDU and this "would help appease local feeling in Pembrokeshire and provide a positive message."

The amounts look good, but the Ward 10 amount is £40,000 less than Mr. Chris Martin (Health Board chairman) said he would ring-fence for Ward 10 some 17 months previously.

So what is going on? Why has the amount gone down? Why is there still no transparency on charitable funds? Why is there still no work on Ward 10 and no new Cancer Day Unit?

And why is the Health Board watchdog (the Community Health Council) not allowed to have a presence on the Charitable Funds Committee?

I would request that the Hywel Dda Health Board management comes clean and tells us what is going on with Pembrokeshire's charitable funds!

If anyone else is concerned, please write letters, send e-mails to the Hywel Dda Health Board or contact your local Community Health Council.

Mr Lyn Neville,

Charity Co-ordinator,

Pembrokeshire Cancer

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