THE building in which health chiefs plan to transform hospital services for patients across Blaenau Gwent, is set to be a trailblazer on three fronts.

Building work is due to start on the Ebbw Vale site of the Ysbyty Aneurin Bevan project next spring, subject to final approval by the Assembly, and should be completed by April 2010.

The £48 million hospital - an impression of which is reproduced here - will be the first to be built in Wales with single bedrooms only, and the first of six to be built in Gwent as part of the Clinical Futures modernisation programme.

It will also be the first major project to be completed in the long term regeneration of the site of the town's former Corus steelworks.

A series of displays is being organised in public buildings across the county borough, starting later this month, at which people living in Blaenau Gwent can see artist's impressions of the hospital and learn more about the services it will provide.

These will include: Three inpatient wards; an adult mental health unit; a multi-room outpatient department; an x-ray department; an urgent care centre for minor injuries and for out-of-hours primary care services; a therapies unit; a birthing room; dining and cafe facilities.

The outpatient department is an especially important feature as one of the key aims is to reduce the amount of journeys patients have to make to Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny, and to other hospitals, for such appointments.

Around 2,000 outpatient appointments a year currently take place at hospitals in Blaenau Gwent, but the new hospital will enable 35,000 a year.

The hospital will be built in the Westgate area of the former Corus site, close to the settlement of Garden City, south of Ebbw Vale.

The site has undergone a comprehensive clean-up and is ready for building to begin.

  • Details of where and when to view the hospital displays are can be seen via the links below. Alternatively, telephone 01495 342427 or 01495 325443.