HOW well do the Royal Gwent and Nevill Hall Hospitals serve patients, visitors and staff, and are they capable of delivering 21st-century models of treatment and care?

These vital questions are being asked during a major study of the suitability of Gwent's two biggest hospitals to deliver acute services for the next ten years.

The independent three-month project is seeking answers to some fundamental questions:

How well do the Royal Gwent and Nevill Hall relate to their catchment areas in terms of patient flows and access to services?

What condition are buildings and equipment in?

What is the environment like for patients, visitors, and staff?

How well do the hospitals meet the demands placed on them?

Will they be able to cope with new models of care, projected demand for acute services, increasing performance targets, and wider quality standards?

What potential is there to add to or improve capacity and quality of accommodation?

What are the options for developing the two hospitals for long-term use, or seeking alternatives?

What are the broad costs and implications of the options and do they represent value for money?

To what extent are the plans and op-tions affordable?

The work is being done for Gwent Healthcare Trust by London-based consultants Rawlinson, Kelly and Whittlestone, who did similar work recently for a North Wales trust. It will inform proposals for a root-and-branch change in the way acute health services are provided in Gwent.

Both hospitals have problems. A Gwent Healthcare Trust report last year described the Royal Gwent's ward facilities as "very poor", while the infrastructure and fabric of its operating theatres have seen "steady deterioration". Car parking is a chronic problem.

Nevill Hall was described as having been subject to "long-term under-investment". Despite improvements since 1999, facilities need a major upgrade.