A new A&E building is being added to the Grange Hospital in Cwmbran in hopes to relieve patient waiting times.

The project, set to be fully completed in April 2025, will see a three-storey building with a ground floor triage area added to the existing facilities.

By expanding the accident and emergency (A&E) department, builders hope to relieve the waiting times for patients as well as patient outcomes.

Morgan Sindall Construction Cardiff have been employed to build the extension, as well as a refurbishment to the current A&E Department’s waiting and triage rooms, ‘to meet modern standards.’

The architects on this project were Building Design Partnership Ltd (BDP), with Gleeds acting as the project manager.

The Grange University Hospital became Gwent’s only A&E unit when it took over from both the A&E department at the Royal Gwent Hospital and the minor injuries unit in Abergavenny’s Nevill Hall in November 2020.

Since then, the £370 million hospital has struggled to meet the demands of the large area, with the hospital’s own staff admitting concern at the number of patients coming to the hospital.

There have been cases where patients have waited more than ten hours to be seen by doctors, and most recently, the hospital ran out of resuscitation beds for their most unwell patients.

Hospital inspectors from Health Inspectorate Wales declared in 2022 that ‘urgent improvement was necessary’ to the A&E department.

Other scandals the hospital has been involved with since opening include releasing the wrong body to grieving families on two separate occasions.

Lots of these issues plan to be resolved by April 2025, with the expansion of hospital facilities.

The new building work by Morgan Sindall and SCAPE will not only expand Gwent’s NHS emergency services, but also provide apprenticeship and work experience opportunities for local young people.

Throughout the construction, Morgan Sindall have committed to reduced carbon emissions. They will utilise its in-house carbon mapping software, CarboniCa, to track and reduce carbon emissions on-site.

Their team will install solar panels on both the new building and the roof of current hospital buildings.

Area Director for Morgan Sindall’s Cardiff team, Rob Williams, said: “This is the first time we’ve worked alongside the NHS in this area. Given the strain facing services, we’re glad to be contributing our expertise to the local hospital and relieving wait times for the community.

“The quality of blue light facilities is of the utmost importance and throughout our delivery, we will work to the highest of standards to deliver a modern, fit-for-purpose Emergency Department unit.

We look forward to continuing our relationship with the NHS team, and the local community on this, and future works.”

Group Chief Executive at SCAPE, Mark Robinson, said: “The extension of The Grange University Hospital’s Emergency Department is a vital project that will not only enhance service facilities but improve patient outcomes.

In addition, this is an excellent example of how a scheme of this significance and size can incorporate social value to better serve the local community and leave a lasting legacy.”

The existing A&E department will be open as normal throughout the building process to the meet required needs of the hospital.