Assembly Member for Monmouth Nick Ramsay has questioned the First Minister in the Senedd on the future of NHS services at Nevill Hall Hospital, Abergavenny.

The First Minister confirmed that Nevill Hall would continue to play a key role after the opening of the Grange University Hospital in 2021.

Questioning the First Minister Mr Ramsay said, “As you know, I attended the topping out of the new critical care centre in Llanfrechfa last week when you mentioned Gwent clinical futures.

“That new critical care centre at Llanfrechfa only works as the top of the Gwent clinical futures pyramid, with general hospitals operating, such as Nevill Hall, at the second level, and community services as the base level—at least that was the original plan.

“We know there have been some concerns locally around Abergavenny and, indeed, south Powys, about the relocation of certain services, such as paediatrics, obstetrics et cetera from Nevill Hall to the new critical care centre.

“What reassurance can you give my constituents that Nevill Hall will be redeveloped in a modern general hospital form and will not lose further important local services, thereby allowing the new critical care centre to get on with the job that it has been built to achieve and which hopefully it will achieve in the future? It’s a fantastic facility that I was pleased to visit last week.”

Mark Drakeford AM thanked Mr Ramsay for his question and confirmed that he was ‘quite right’ to say that the vast majority of health services at a hospital level will continue to be provided by that network of local hospitals—Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr, Ysbyty Aneurin Bevan, Chepstow and county hospitals.

He added that Nevill Hall would also continue to play a very important role in the future and would go on delivering the majority of hospital services, a minor injuries unit, a midwife-led maternity unit, diagnostic tests, therapies, in-patient and out-patient care.

He confirmed that the hospital would also continue as an out-of-hours primary care centre and diagnostic services in respect of MRI, CT and medical assessments.

“That is the vision that Gwent clinical futures set out. That does mean—and change is always challenging in the health service, as he knows—that consultant-led obstetric and paediatric services will in the future be at the Grange hospital, but that’s how it should be because that hospital will provide complex specialist or critical care, providing the very best services for those people who need them at that level of intervention, while allowing that local hospital network to go on providing the bulk of services needed by those local populations,” said Mr Drakeford.

Construction of the new £350 million Specialist Critical Care Unit at Llanfrechfa Construction by the main contractor, Laing O’Rourke,begn during the summer of 2017 and the hospital is due to be completed by the autumn of 2020 and receive the first patients during the spring of 2021.

The 560 bed (including trolleys and cots), 55,000m2 new build hospital will provide complex specialist and critical care treatment for over 600,000 people in South-East Wales, and include a 24 hour acute Assessment Unit and Emergency Department.

As a key component of the Clinical Futures strategy to modernise health services in the Health Board area, the new hospital was unveiled as part of an ambitious blueprint in 2004 by the former Trust and Local Health Boards in Gwent and aims to continue to attract and retain the best staff to maintain the highest standards of care for the people of Gwent and South Powys.