A NEW direct bus link will connect several towns around Gwent with the region's main hospital.

The route will serve Blackwood, Newbridge and Pontypool and take passengers to the Grange University Hospital, on the outskirts of Cwmbran.

Mark Drakeford has confirmed the service will run hourly and will be set up "within a few weeks".

He called the move "a significant advance in making sure that people who rely on public transport to get to and from the Grange hospital... will now have that new service at their disposal".

The announcement comes after long-standing complaints from some of Gwent's Senedd respresentatives that the flagship hospital - which opened in late 2020 - had poor transport links to much of the region.

While access to the Grange from Newport is relatively straightforward, people travelling from Blaenau Gwent and northern parts of Caerphilly county borough and Torfaen - as well as areas of Monmouthshire - faced long journeys, sometimes along smaller roads.

The Grange contains Gwent's only accident and emergency department, and was designed to be served by ambulances rather than members of the public arriving by car, although there is a sizeable car park available for the public, including visitors.

People with less severe complaints are supposed to visit one of Gwent's minor injuries units rather than turn up at the Grange's A&E, but this has caused some confusion since the hospital opened.

Caerphilly Senedd member Hefin David said the new direct bus service followed "many meetings" with transport bosses.

Mr Drakeford acknowledged there had been "consistent interest" in "making sure public transport links to the Grange hospital are as good as they can be".

"I'm very pleased to say... we're in the final stages of finalising arrangements to introduce that new direct bus link to the hospital from Blackwood, Newbridge and Pontypool, and that that service will begin within a few weeks, in July," the first minister added.

"It will be a direct contract between the Welsh Government and the bus operator here in south Wales in order to get that service to happen. The service will operate on an hourly basis throughout the day, and we will carefully monitor its effectiveness over the first six months."

Lee Waters, the deputy minister for climate change, is expected to make an announcement "shortly" to confirm the exact start date for the new service.