THE local health board has apologised for a heating problem which left a ward of elderly patients at Newport's Royal Gwent Hospital in the cold for two days.

The daughter of a patient on Ward B6 told the Argus her mother had no choice but to sit in bed fully dressed, covered in two or three extra blankets, because of the cold.

She said her mother had been recovering from her bout of pneumonia, but after being in the "noticeably cold" Ward B6 – where she was waiting to be discharged – her condition had "declined in the last few days".

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"It's not ideal," Ms Wright said of the situation, adding that the ward's nurses had been wearing fleeces as they tended to patients.

A spokesman for Aneurin Bevan University Health Board apologised for the heating issues, adding that they had now been fixed.

He said: “Unfortunately we experienced some problems with the heating pumps and controls at the Royal Gwent Hospital, which meant some areas of the building were cooler than usual. These heating system issues have now been identified and fixed.

“We apologise for any discomfort experienced by our patients and we’d like to thank our staff for continuing to offer care and support while the heating problems were resolved.”