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Welcome to the Mid and West Wales Critical Care Network

The Mid and West Wales Critical Care Network was established in 2007 as a partnership between NHS Trust hospitals and Local Health Board commissioners to work together to promote the highest quality critical care services for the region.

Critical care is a vital hospital service and the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is the area where the sickest patients in hospital are treated. These patients may come from the general wards, both medical and surgical, the Accident and Emergency Department, or the operating theatres. The staff of the critical care unit use modern high-technology organ support to save patients' lives. Critical Care services also provide a key role within the hospital to support the medical and surgical specialties in the early recognition of, and response to, acute illness in adults in hospital.

The main focus of the Network is adult critical care but links are being forged with specialised areas providing critical care including cancer, cardiac, neurosciences, burns and plastic surgery and renal (kidney).

The Mid and West Wales Critical Care Network work closely with the Critical Care Networks in North Wales and South East Wales and with other regional Networks (including Cancer, Cardiac and Renal) in order to identify and address issues which cut across clinical services regionally or nationally.

This site has been developed to share information across the region. Some of the content of this website may be accessible to only NHS Critical Care staff through log in procedures.

The Mid and West Wales region is served by three Local Health Boards - Hywel Dda Health Board, Powys Local Health Board and Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board.

Within the local NHS hospitals there are 8 Critical Care Units.

The NHS Trusts within the Network are:-

Hywel Dda Health Board

Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board

The region is varied and characterised by:

A largely rural, sparsely populated western and northern area (Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Powys)
The more densely populated areas of Carmarthenshire, Swansea and Bridgend, with the larger towns of Carmarthen, Llanelli, Swansea and Bridgend.
A large coastline (with beautiful coastal paths)

We will try to write in plain English and to avoid the use of jargon. There is also a glossary of terms which you will be able to access by clicking on words that are highlighted and underlined or by going to the "Glossary" tab on the main menu at the top of the page.

Last updated: 28/10/2009