Plans for a new breast care unit in Ystrad Mynach have moved a step closer after outline plans were approved by Caerphilly County Borough council.
The unit would be based at Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr, with breast cancer services across Gwent unified under one roof.
Currently, the services are spread across the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (ABUHB) area, of which Caerphilly County Borough is a part of.
Why is Caerphilly in Gwent? I thought it was in Mid Glamorgan
Caerphilly County Borough was formed on April 1, 1996, by the merger of the Rhymney Valley district of Mid Glamorgan with the Islwyn borough of Gwent.
Administratively, for local services such as the police and health, the borough now falls under a wider region referred to as Gwent. This comprises the council areas of Caerphilly, Newport, Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent and Monmouthshire.
More than 6,000 patients attend the breast care clinics at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport and Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny each year.
A report on the planning application says services at the proposed “centre of excellence” will provide “the best clinical outcomes comprising of dedicated diagnostic, treatment and counselling rooms that will enable faster diagnosis, treatment and follow-up care.”
The service will be based in a new hospital building, which will be connected to the main hospital by a glass corridor.
The new building will have a variety of consultation, examination, ultrasound, radiology, mammogram, treatment and counselling rooms, along with a reception and waiting area, as well as changing rooms and toilets.
There will also been room for offices, staff facilities and a volunteer café.
Eight car parking spaces at the hospital will be lost to accommodate the new building, but 13 additional spaces will be provided, including two electrical charging points.
The plans have already been approved by Welsh Government, which funded the preparation of an outline business plan – which was submitted to the health board in May.
The health board hopes to get the service up and running by the end of 2021.
A fundraising group, called The Friends of the ABUHB Breast Unit, was set up in 2018 with the aim of raising £200,000 for the unit.
Hefin David, the Senedd Member for Caerphilly, welcomed the news and said: “I have been calling for a new, modern centre of excellence for breast care to be created at Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr since my election in 2016.
“We are now a step closer to this happening, and I look forward to working with the local authority, ABUHB and the Welsh Government to make sure this is realised in the near future.”
For more information about the breast care unit and how to donate, visit turnabuhbpink.org
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