HEALTH bosses in Gwent could seek more than £9.5 million of funding from the Welsh Government during the next five years, to help adapt the Royal Gwent and Nevill Hall Hospitals for new roles.

A range of services, such as A&E, critical care, neo-natal, paediatric, and surgical, will be relocated from these hospitals to the Specialist and Critical Care Centre (SCCC) that is to be built at Llanfrechfa, near Cwmbran.

They will be rebranded as Enhance Local General Hospitals (ELGHs), with vital but different roles to play in providing healthcare for Gwent patients after the SCCC opens.

And Aneurin Bevan University Health Board is looking to revamp both sites in the run-up to, and after, the SCCC opens.

The latter is expected to be fully operational during 2021.

The health board’s integrated medium term plan (IMTP) - which provides a comprehensive overview of how it sees services developing, specifically up to 2019/20, states that projects for revamping the two hospitals will be “put forward for potential funding from the Welsh Government Strategic Capital Programme.”

Over five years, to 2021/22 it foresees a potential £9,520,000 of funding being sought.

This equates to £6,121,000 for the Royal Gwent, and £3,399,000 for Nevill Hall.

Investment is considered to be vital on both sites, as they will retain a surgical role, focusing on routine operations covering a range of specialities.

They will also continue to have an, albeit reduced, emergency services function, while dealing with minor injuries.

A smooth transition into the new roles is very important, as they will have to operate as ELGHs from the moment the SCCC becomes fully operational, and the reorganisation of services will be a huge task.

Different and more efficient use will have to be made of buildings at both the Royal Gwent and Nevill Hall.

The Royal Gwent may also have to host a range of services currently provided at the neighbouring St Woolos Hospital.

The long term future of the latter is unclear, but it is likely to close partially or completely, based on what the scope of the Royal Gwent’s role will be.

A detailed survey of the health board’s estate is being carried out, with a view to seeking investment in the medium and long term to create a network of premises able to deliver 21st Century healthcare.

The health board currently has 71 properties, some of which are more than 100 years old and which struggle to sustain modern services.

Almost half (46 per cent) of its estate is more than 40 years old.

That network of premises must be geared towards the health board’s Clinical Futures strategy too, of which the SCCC and other hospitals are a fundamental part.

Health secretary Vaughan Gething approved funding of some £350m last autumn for the long-awaited SCCC, and the health board’s IMTG also outlines the estimated yearly spending for this flagship project, through to 2021/22.

It envisages almost £38.8m being made available this year (2017/18). The site has been readied, and work is expected to begin in earnest soon.