‘No plans’ to bring acute care back to Nevill Hall

Local TV

Nevill Hall has served many people in more rural parts of South East Wales for decades, but a few years ago, the A&E department was closed, and has since found issues with RAAC concrete. The future of the site is in question, and health bosses want to hear from locals for their thoughts.

Transcript

00:00The future of Neville Hall Hospital in Abergavenny remains uncertain,

00:04with ambitious redevelopment plans on the table, but no guarantees that they'll go ahead.

00:08A Nirenbevan University Health Board has confirmed that while it wants to expand

00:12local hospital services across Gwent, including at Neville Hall,

00:15there are no plans to return specialist acute care to the Grange in Cumbrian.

00:19The Grange was opened in 2020 to centralise critical and emergency services,

00:23and that model, Health Chiefs say, is here to stay.

00:26The accident and emergency department at Neville Hall was removed in late 2020,

00:30and all A&E patients across much of the area only have the Grange in Cumbrian as an option.

00:35Hannah Evans, the Board's Director of Planning, told counsellors in Monmouthshire this week

00:39they will not be bringing back acute specialties from the Grange,

00:42they simply do not have the workforce to sustain those services across multiple hospitals.

00:46So patients with serious conditions like heart attacks or complex injuries will go to the Grange,

00:50but the Board is considering whether more routine services, such as outpatients or diagnostics,

00:55could return to sites like Neville Hall. The timeline for any change is unclear.

00:59Much of Neville Hall's infrastructure is outdated and affected by RAAC,

01:03the same lightweight concrete raising safety concerns across the UK.

01:07The Board hopes to demolish and rebuild large sections of the hospital,

01:11but work wouldn't begin until at least 2027 or 2028, and only with Welsh Government funding.

01:17In the meantime, Neville Hall is already hosting a new radiotherapy satellite centre,

01:21and regional cataract surgery unit serving patients from Cardiff, Gwent and the Valleys.

01:26More services like day surgery, elderly care, women's health and possibly mental health

01:31are under consideration, but far from confirmed.

01:34The Health Board are asking people across areas of Newport, Torvine and Monmouthshire

01:37to have their say on the future of the site, with a consultation period open until mid-August.

01:42Here's Paige Watkins, reporting for Local TV.

Category

Transcript

Recommended