The future of Hywel Dda health board is up in the air. And from now to 31 August, a public consultation is underway that will have a large part in determining just how, where and when critical care will be delivered across the communities of west Wales.

If you want to keep your services, you need to make your voice heard. You need to attend meetings, write emails, contact politicians, do anything and everything in your power to ensure the facilities at Hywel Dda are at least maintained.

The consultation process is looking at nine healthcare services that are, in the words of Hywel Dda itself, “fragile and in need of change”.

Make no mistake, the health board is broken. And broke. And the object of this public consultation is to figure out ways to do more with less. And doing more with less will mean fewer services available at our local facilities, the downgrading of hospitals, and travelling farther for fewer specialist appointments.

There are significant changes in the pipeline for Bronglais in Aberystwyth, Llanelli’s Prince Philip, Glangwilli in Carmarthen and Withybush in Haverfordwest.

One ludicrous proposal on the table is that elective surgeries take place in the three hospitals on consecutive weeks. It’s bad enough now trying to get a date for a surgery, just imagine what the health care lottery will be like when it’s a rotating hospital.

Already there are plans afoot to have people who suffer strokes stabilised in Aberystwyth then moved to Glangwilli. That might make sense to some analyst looking at Hywel Dda’s finances; it make no sense to anyone trying to look after a loved one when has suffered a stroke.

In the pages of this publication an online, our west Wales news team has looked at the effects of these proposals. They are many and they are complicated. But the bottom line is that we are now in a consultation period that is critical for our hospitals, our health, our communities and for ourselves.

That’s why you need to make your voice and opinions heard.

The final decisions will be due in November. Make sure you have your say in shaping that plan.