HEALTH bosses are hoping to secure crucial final approval from the Welsh Government no later than next January for Gwent's long-awaited Specialist and Critical Care Centre (SCCC) project.

The final business case for the £300 million project - planned for the site of the former Llanfrechfa Grange Hospital, near Cwmbran - has been approved by Aneurin Bevan University Health Board members, and is set to be submitted within the next two weeks.

But based on the current estimated timetable, there is little room for manoeuvre should that approval be delayed.

The aim is to have the SCCC, which will treat Gwent's sickest and most complex patients, open by August 2019.

September or October of that year is feasible too, though the sooner it is operational the better, as the more time there will then be to bed in at the site before the extra pressure of the winter period arrives.

A winter opening is not out of the question, but the health board is very keen to avoid that, given that the period from December-March brings its own challenges based on recent experience, in the form of higher demand and pressure on beds and emergency departments.

Infrastructure work has been going on at the site for more than a year, since an outline business case was approved, and the timetable currently proposes a start on the building phase next May.

The centre will have around 550 beds and will provide major emergency treatment and assessment, with critical care beds and acute cardiac care beds including cardiac catheter laboratories.

Inpatient services will handle major cases, with specialties such as general surgery, medicine, orthopaedics, haematology and vascular care.

Also included will be inpatient obstetrics, midwifery and consultant-led services, gynaecology, emergency endoscopy, inpatient paediatrics, and neonatal intensive care, emergency diagnostics, radiology, CT and MRI scanning, ultrasound, pathology, pharmacy, and a multi-disciplinary education centre for staff training and development.

The last estimate of the cost of the SCCC was £292m, allowing for inflation, but it is understood that the bill will now just exceed £300m as around £9.5m has been added.

Some of this is down to market fluctuations, the rest to changes to the functional content of the building.