Difficult two years for Gwent's flagship hospital the Grange

The hospital opened to treat the most seriously ill and injured patients in the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board region.

The project received £350 million in Welsh Government funding, with a further £10 million investment to get up and running ahead of schedule.

Following the early opening of part of the hospital, an additional £10 million in Welsh Government funding was granted to enable the hospital to fully open in autumn 2020.

And, as the second coronavirus wave built up in Wales, the state-of-the-art hospital opened up on November 17, 2020.

The Grange has become Gwent’s only hospital for accident and emergency (A&E) care – with The Royal Gwent, Nevill Hall, and Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr now all operating minor injury units.

However, it is safe to say that, two years on, it has not had the easiest ride.

This year, there have been numerous reports of long waits both inside and in ambulances outside the hospital.

Ambulance crews have spent more than 2,000 hours a month outside the Grange University Hospital, on average, since it opened two years ago.

As the Argus has reported previously, a series of "patient flow" bottlenecks in health and social care have contributed to a chain reaction of delays in hospitals, with long waits for discharges leading to a lack of beds for those who arrive at the front door.

In one month alone, ambulance crews lost 3,155 hours because they had to wait outside the Grange.

Monmouth MP David Davies has made repeated calls for the Welsh Government to launch an independent public inquiry to examine healthcare failings affecting Monmouthshire after a catalogue of incidents.

These include an 84-year-old woman with a head injury who spent 24 hours being treated in ambulances outside The Grange due to a lack of beds, and a suspected heart attack victim who was told she had to wait two hours for an ambulance.

However, health minister Eluned Morgan has refused to hold a public inquiry – stating it is the responsibility of Aneurin Bevan University Heath Board, the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust and partners to ensure patients receive a “safe and timely access to assessment and treatment”.

In August, the health board announced that a new Same Day Emergency Care Unit (SDEC) has been introduced at The Grange.

"Our Emergency Department and services remain extremely busy and we know that the coming winter season will bring further pressures," the health board said.

The new Same Day Emergency Care Unit at the Grange, developed with investment from the Welsh Government, will - the health board say - provide same day assessments and treatment.

"This means that more patients will be able to receive emergency care without needing to be admitted to hospital overnight, freeing up beds for those who need them most," they said.

"You are unable to self-present at SDEC. Before being asked to attend the unit you will first have to be assessed either by your GP, or a triage nurse in the Emergency Department."

Looking ahead, the Welsh health minister Eluned Morgan has not ruled out the return of masks and other coronavirus mitigation measures have also not been ruled out.

The Welsh Government currently has a number of virus 'models' which forecast potential outbreaks and spreads.

Asked if there were any potential models which were cause for concern, Ms Morgan said: "The one which says we are going to have an intense peak in December/January.

"If we were to see flu and covid at the same time, that would provide a crunch point for us."

Such a "crunch point" would likely have similar knock-on effects to those experienced during the pandemic.

Ms Morgan said: "Vaccination is our best weapon in the fight against covid," she said.

"We may have another variant which evades our vaccine.

"Some health boards are starting to reintroduce face coverings in clinical settings.

"We will reintroduce measures if we need to."

However, she stressed that Wales "remains in a Covid-stable situation" at this time.