WIREDGOV

Health Secretary Vaughan Gething has given the go ahead for the construction of the new Specialist and Critical Care Centre (SCCC) in Llanfrechfa Grange, Cwmbran.

Final tender costs are yet to be agreed, but the Welsh Government will invest some £350 million in the new hospital. It is expected the SCCC will open in 2022.

The SCCC forms a key part of the ambitious Clinical Futures strategy, launched in 2004, to modernise health services in Gwent. When built, the new hospital will treat patients who need complex and acute emergency care in the Gwent region.

While the SCCC is an integral part of the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, the Welsh Government expects the new hospital to have a strong regional role in south Wales, working with other major acute hospitals to secure sustainable, high quality services which deliver the best possible outcomes for patients. 

Vaughan Gething said: 

“I know there has been a high level of public and political interest in this project and after careful consideration I’m delighted to have approved the full business case for the SCCC. I will now release capital funding from 2016/17 to 2021/22 to build what will be a state of the art hospital in Gwent.

“The SCCC has had strong support locally and through public consultation on the South Wales Programme.  I am confident that bringing together complex and more acute services on one hospital site will allow the local health board to secure a range of benefits which will improve the quality of care for patients. 

“Our drive to improve health care in Wales never stops, and nor will it. I am determined that we plan and develop services on a regional as well as a local basis to benefit the population of south Wales as a whole. The SCCC is a positive step which will benefit many patients for years to come.”