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A new waiting room extension at the Grange University Hospital is expected to open in the summer.

The nearly £15 million project is designed to reduce overcrowding pressures and improve experiences at the flagship hospital, which opened in 2020 but has continued to experience problems with the flow of patients through the building.

During an unannounced inspection this January, Health Inspectorate Wales found the hospital had made “positive progress” following a previous review, but still suffered “ongoing systemic challenges affecting the consistent delivery of safe care”.

The inspection team said it was “disappointing to find that overcrowding in the waiting room and reception area continues to compromise patient privacy, dignity, and access to timely care”.

When the Grange opened, it was designed to welcome patients arriving by ambulance or helicopter, and not intended to be an A&E department where people arrived by their own means.

In reality, the nature of emergency department attendances have proved markedly different.

In a public consultation report outlining the proposed waiting room extension, in 2023, the health board said that “since opening, the department has seen a greater than expected number of patients arriving by private car and higher attendance than forecast”.

“This has led to instances of overcrowding within the emergency department, which currently has sufficient waiting space for 38 patients,” the health board said at the time.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service this week, a spokesperson for Aneurin Bevan University Health Board said “good progress” is being made on the extension to the emergency department’s waiting room, “which will improve patient experience and flow through the hospital system”.

A health board report shows the first phase of the Welsh Government-funded project is scheduled to finish on May 27, with the completion date for the remaining stage set for mid-August.

“With a budget of £14.69 million, the project will provide a new waiting area which will increase the capacity to 75 seats, expand triage space, and repurpose the current waiting area into a rapid assessment zone,” the health board spokesperson explained. “The hospital’s Operational Hub will be relocated to the first floor of the new building, providing 24/7 coordination across the hospital.

“The new emergency department extension is expected to be fully completed by autumn 2025, although the new waiting area is due to open earlier during the summer.”

The inspectors’ report in January also praised staff “for their professionalism, compassion, and commitment to delivering care under challenging conditions” but said systemic issues within the health board and wider NHS were affecting the delivery of timely care.