A NEW £350 ‘super hospital’ serving Gwent has been given the green light by the Welsh Government today when health secretary Vaughan Gething gave the go ahead for the building of the new Specialist and Critical Care Centre (SCCC) in Llanfrechfa.

It is expected the SCCC will open in 2022 and will treat patients who need complex and acute emergency care.

The centre forms a key part of the ambitious Clinical Futures strategy, launched 12 years ago which planned to modernise health services in Gwent.

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.”

Monmouthshire County Council has welcomed the announcement.

Councillor Geoff Burrows, Monmouthshire’s cabinet member for Social Care, Safeguarding & Health said: “I’m absolutely thrilled with today’s news.  We have anticipated this announcement for a very long time indeed. 

“The certainty that the brand new purpose-built Specialist and Critical Care Facility based in S E Wales and on Monmouthshire’s border is to be constructed will allow us to plan our health and social care partnerships effectively.”

Existing acute services at the Royal Gwent and St Woolos hospitals in Newport, and Abergavenny’s Nevill Hall Hospital are likely to see changes when the new hospital opens, the Welsh Government said.