DETAILED proposals for a new centre of excellence for breast services for patients across Gwent are due to be unveiled next month.

The centre will be situated at Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr in Ystrad Mynach, with Aneurin Bevan University Health Board having initially agreed to the idea of such a development four years ago.

The Welsh Government approved the idea too, and has since funded the preparation of an outline business case which is set to be submitted to board members of the health board in May.

Several factors are driving the need to create such a centre, based around the challenges of maintaining existing services at the Royal Gwent and Nevill Hall Hospitals.

Demand for outpatient services for breast patients far outweighs the current capacity, which can impact waiting times for tests and scans, and it has not been possible to meet 31-day and 62-day cancer waiting times targets to any sustainable degree.

Workforce shortages in radiology are also an issue, particularly with existing breast services based at two sites.

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These and other issues, including the impossibility of offering patients one-stop diagnostic breast clinic assessments - regarded as best practice by UK breast and cancer experts - were highlighted in a health board report in 2018.

The lack of such a one-stop clinic for patients in Gwent was raised as an issue of concern by the Welsh Breast Cancer Services Peer Review Team.

Existing services are well thought of by patients, but concerns include waiting times for appointments and car parking problems.

Development of a single multi-disciplinary breast services team, and consistent care pathways, are seen as the way forward, with research from elsewhere in the UK having shown a link between such a model of care and improved cancer survival rates, particularly for breast cancer.

The plan for a centre of excellence was received positively during a public consultation, and Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr emerged as the preferred option for a base.

Subject to subsequent approvals and funding - the project is likely to cost several millions of pounds - the health board hopes to have the centre up and running by the end of 2021.