HUNDREDS of extra beds commissioned at the Grange University Hospital as part of the response to demand during the coronavirus crisis, are now ready - but they will not be needed just yet.

The public response to social distancing and other restrictions during the ongoing lockdown period mean that there is no immediate need to open the extra capacity at the Grange - at Llanfrechfa, near Cwmbran - which is not due to officially open until next March.

A number of finished wards have been handed over months ahead of schedule by contractors who are building the grange, following four weeks of intense work to make sure the 384 beds were ready.

Laing O’Rourke and Gleeds staff have worked around the clock since it was announced last month that the hospital was to be pressed into service, and the Welsh Government provided £10 million of extra funding to support the plan.

The surge in cases that Aneurin Bevan University Health Board feared it might see has not materialise yet though, so the beds do not need to be opened at present.

“At the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak we needed to plan for the worst case scenario,” said health board chief executive Judith Paget.

“I would like to thank Laing O’Rourke and Gleeds for the great amount of effort and skill they have shown to get these areas of the hospital ready for us to use.

“Thankfully the general public have observed the advice on staying at home and social distancing, so we don’t need to open the extra beds just yet.

“I would urge people to keep following the government guidance to protect themselves, to ease the pressure on our NHS services, and to save lives.”

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Mike Lewis, Laing O’Rourke project director said: “Aneurin Bevan University Hospital Board had the foresight to ask us to bring our construction programme forward, creating 384 bed spaces as part of their preparations to tackle coronavirus in Wales.

“I am humbled by the tremendous effort shown by all in our project team and I thank them for their commitment.

"Our motivation to deliver key parts of the Grange University Hospital for use a year ahead of schedule has been driven by our determination to provide vital NHS facilities and to support all those working in the NHS, to whom we owe so much.”

Victoria Head, project director at Gleeds, said that had the Grange project been a traditional building project with the same start date, "with the best will in the world, we would not have been in a position to offer support to this national pandemic and the NHS".

"We’ve always been proud of the modern methods of construction involved at the Grange University Hospital and the programme savings which it offered compared to a traditional build, but never have the benefits been more apparent than during this crisis.”