"When I was appointed as Chairman of the Hywel Dda NHS Trust in August 2008, I was fortunate to adopt and organisation whose staff and Trust Board were fully committed to providing the best healthcare possible to local patients. This ethos is embedded in the new organisation and continues to drive everything that we do.

My vision for the Trust has been to ensure that we are open and transparent in all our dealings. It is paramount for us to earn the respect of the public so they have confidence that we are administering public funds in a professional way and driving forward innovation and improved patient care. We are embracing clinical leadership and involving our most valuable asset - our staff - in planning provision of services right across the region.

And there is already much to celebrate - new and improved services, awards, success stories and good practice realised thanks to the hard work of our staff.

In Ceredigion & Mid Wales this includes the installation of a £1.3m, Welsh Assembly Government funded, MRI scanner at Bronglais General Hospital; continuing work to invest £30m into improving the hospital environment as part of the Bronglais Front of House scheme; and the extension of telemedicine to help support patients within their own homes and communities. An initiative to develop and support healthcare support workers, spearheaded in Ceredigion, also picked up an award at the ceremony held by the Welsh Assembly Government to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the NHS.

In Pembrokeshire, work has begun on the £8.75m Emergency and Urgent Care Centre, which when complete will provide a state-of-the-art facility for the local population. A project to improve the environment at the front of the hospital including an undercover canopy and one-way traffic system is also complete and has improved patient safety. The Welsh Assembly Government has also provided funding for a temporary renal dialysis unit in Pembrokeshire and longer term plans for this provision are being developed.

In Carmarthenshire, patients have welcomed the opening of the new £7m Emergency Unit at West Wales General Hospital, funded by the Welsh Assembly Government. The Trust is also in the final stages of planning for an investment which could be in the region of £29m to provide a short-stay and endoscopy unit, and an extension to the Breast Care Unit, at Prince Philip Hospital.

Carmarthenshire's Community Nursing Team and Chronic Disease Management Team - a partnership with the Local Health Board - also picked up 60th anniversary NHS awards. The CDM team were also finalists in the Nursing Time Awards and two Carmarthenshire midwives also picked up awards from the All-Wales Head of Midwifery Awards.

Across the three counties, Mental Health and Learning Disability services have continued to raise the profile of their work holding Mind the Gap events across the region in order to raise their profile and that of World Mental Health Day.

A three year plan to modernise Adult Mental Health Services across the three counties is also in place to provide a real alternative to hospital admission through better support in or close to patients' own homes. It will build on work successfully achieved over the last two years to create a more community-based system of mental healthcare.

The hard work of staff has also received national recognition with Health Minister Edwina Hart paying a visit to the award-winning staff from the Epilepsy Unit and Learning Disabilities Team at Penlan Road, Carmarthen. The Trust's Sexual and Emotion Health Advisor who works with young people in Ceredigion was also one of only five to be nominated for an award from the Nursing Times.

The last few months have been landmark in the history of healthcare in the region. Not only have we celebrated 60 years of the NHS in Wales, but we have also played our part of history in the making with the formation of Hywel Dda NHS Trust.

Further re-structuring of the NHS is already underway, providing an opportunity for us to make our services better, safer, quicker, more sustainable and better value for money. In these times of change we would like to thank our staff for their unwavering commitment to their work and reassure patients that they will remain at the heart of all service re-development.

Article written by Chris Martin.