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Wales' newest hospital is packed, staff say, as bosses defend safety record
BBC Wales reported from Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran: A&E was over capacity on the visit day, while health-board leaders said mortality figures compared well with other Welsh hospitals.
- New headline Was: “On frontline at hospital denying online claims it is 'dangerous' and 'dreadful'”
- Our desk filed its story
- New headline Was: “Hospital deemed 'dangerous' and 'dreadful' online claims to be among safest in the country”
- New headline Was: “Hospital deemed 'dangerous' and 'dreadful' online claims to be among safest in the country”
- Our desk filed its story
BBC Wales visited Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran, Torfaen, after online claims that Wales' newest hospital was unsafe, finding an emergency department over capacity while senior staff said its mortality figures compared well with other Welsh hospitals1.
The £350 million specialist hospital opened in September 2020, early in the COVID-19 pandemic, centralizing intensive care, surgery and A&E from sites in Newport and Abergavenny1.
On the day of the visit, more than 90 patients were in the emergency department, with the longest wait about 18 hours, and all eight resuscitation beds were occupied when a life-threatening ambulance call was due in minutes1.
Emergency doctor Zoe Morgan-Pittard said the department was over capacity and that staff had moved patients who were probably not well enough so the sickest could take priority1.
Margaret Giles, 84, of Croesyceiliog, spent about nine hours on a trolley in an overflow space after a fall; X-rays later showed her hip was not broken1.
Welsh Ambulance Service official Darren Panniers said handover times had improved, with 67% of ambulances released within 45 minutes over the previous 30 days, though 33% met that target on the visit day1.
Aneurin Bevan University Health Board remains in Level 4 Welsh government measures, the second-highest oversight tier, over urgent and emergency care1.
Chief operating officer Leanne Watkins said the hospital had among the best mortality rates in Wales for some procedures, including hip fracture and emergency surgery, and that social-media criticism was unfair1.
The health board's data, as reported by BBC Wales, suggested death rates were lower than at similar Welsh hospitals after accounting for case mix, and that emergency-department deaths were below the Welsh average1.
The Welsh government said the board must improve unscheduled-care performance and information for patients; staff saw 274 patients in A&E during the reporting day1.