Residents across Monmouth are being urged to think carefully before attending Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny.

Bosses at Aneurin Bevan University Health Board are urging residents to make sure they know where to go when they are ill or injured.

In recent months people have turned up at Nevill Hall with life threatening illnesses or injuries not realising they should have gone to the new hospital in Cwmbran.

Health chiefs know they need to clear up the confusion and are highlighting an information campaign to help patients.

Following the opening of The Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran in November 2020, the Emergency Department at Nevill Hall Hospital was replaced by a 24-hour Minor Injuries Unit.

Hospital clinicians are now worried that some people are still not aware of these changes after a small number of patients have turned up at Nevill Hall with life-threatening illnesses or injuries in recent months.

The Grange University Hospital now delivers specialist and critical care to the whole of Gwent and houses the region’s Emergency Department.

The centralisation of highly specialist staff and equipment in one hospital means the highest levels of care and support can be offered to the sickest patients.

By choosing the appropriate health services, only using 999 or the Emergency Department in a life-threatening emergency or calling 111 if unsure where to go, patients are more likely to be treated in the right place, first time.

Dr Alastair Richards, clinical director of emergency medicine at the Health Board, said: “Our message is clear – please call 999 or go the The Grange University Hospital if you think your life may be in danger.

“If you have a non life-threatening injury such as a cut, sprain, dislocation, or broken bone then please visit our Minor Injury Units in Abergavenny, Newport, Ystrad Mynach and Ebbw Vale.

“Please remember to call 111 when you are unsure where to go and you will be directed appropriately.

“Our staff have worked tirelessly over the past 18 months to provide the best possible care in the most challenging of circumstances and we know the pressures on the NHS in Gwent and across the whole UK will continue.

‘‘We don’t want people to put themselves in danger by attending the wrong hospital for their needs in life-threatening situations.”

Aneurin Bevan University Health Board is continuing an information and engagement campaign to help local people understand the changes that have taken place to health services in the area and help them make the right care choices.

Please visit https://abuhb.nhs.wales/clinical-futures for more information and helpful advice.

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