THE Aneurin Bevan Health Board has clarified the role that Nevill Hall Hospital will play in the future after concerns were raised by Chronicle readers.

Our Postbag has been deluged with readers' views over the possibility that the emergency surgery unit at Nevill Hall could be removed before the end of this year and top medical staff in a variety of fields moved to the proposed new 450-bed Specialist Critical Care Centre at the Llanfrechfa Grange site in Cwmbran.

So far the health board has simply submitted an outline planning application to Torfaen County Council to build on the 61 acres of the old psychiatric hospital.

But readers have expressed the view that Nevill Hall will be downgraded when the new facility is built.

A spokesman for Aneurin Bevan Health Board said: "Clinical Futures remains the Health Board's plan to provide safe, sustainable and high quality local health care for the people of the Gwent area. 

"We've been actively working to implement the Clinical Futures Plan over recent years. It is a scheme that was developed by local health organisations with the advice and guidance of senior clinicians. 

"The Plan was subject to extensive public consultation in 2006 and the proposals received clear public support.

"The Clinical Futures Plans propose a hospital network for the Gwent area, which will be made up of Local General Hospitals, which includes Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny, and also a new Specialist and Critical Care Centre at Llanfrechfa.

"Most of the hospital care for people from Abergavenny and the surrounding areas will continue to be provided at Nevill Hall Hospital, which will still have emergency medical care provided by a Local Emergency Centre." 

The spokesman added that for some problems like heart attacks, strokes and major road accidents, patients from the Abergavenny area will travel to the SCCC unit in Llanfrechfa for their initial treatment.

"This is where the Health Board will provide the best 21st century critical care reliably and sustainably around the clock." 

The public consultation carried out in 2006 also showed that 83 percent of those consulted were in support of a central location for the SCCC to be built in Gwent.

The spokesman added that since the plan was devised 10 years ago the Aneurin Bevan Health Board has opened a number of new facilities including Ysbyty Aneurin Bevan in Blaenau Gwent and Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr in the Caerphilly County Borough. 

"Our plans also include the improvement of services in local community settings and more care being provided in people's own homes," the spokesman added. 

"As our plans further develop and are implemented the Health Board will continue to engage with local people and our staff to discuss these plans and also provide information about the range of services available locally."

Earlier this year Angela Jones, the board's locality director for Monmouthshire, explained to the Bryn-y-Cwm area committee that the health board proposes to increase the range of services provided in the community.

She added: "Therefore a central unit is needed so as not to have specialists working from outlying hospitals. And having a centralised unit means that we increase productivity and efficiency.

"We want to develop services that maintain the independence of patients by keeping them out of hospital where possible."

Speaking at the same meeting Councillor Giles Howard said that his overriding fear was in taking services away from Nevill Hall and making patients travel to Cwmbran, and in many cases by public transport.

"This could be as stressful as the illness itself," he said.

Ms Jones responded: "There is an ongoing dialogue at present with public transport providers in developing ways to overcome these problems."

Ms Jones said that mental health provision in Abergavenny is to be upgraded with two possible options being looked at and one of these is to move all services onto the Nevill Hall site.

• An exhibition showing the latest proposals for the new Specialist Critical Care Centre at Llanfrechfa is being held in the main recreation hall on Thursday August 16 and Friday, August 17 between 5pm and 7pm, and on Saturday, August 18 between 10am – 1pm.