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No extra funding is expected to be provided to help Gwent’s health board cope with winter pressures beyond a £1 million allocation, senior figures have been warned.
Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (ABUHB) is drawing up emergency plans to end “corridor care” and handle an expected spike in hospital admissions over the coming winter months.
However, board members were told at their September meeting that any costs exceeding the £1m Welsh Government allocation will represent a direct financial risk to the cash-strapped health authority.
Health boards across Wales were instructed in July to create winter resilience plans. The directives focus on eliminating the treatment of patients in non-clinical areas, improving bed flow from admission to discharge, and working with councils to free up beds held by elderly patients.
ABUHB – which runs the Ystrad Mynach’s Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr, Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran, Newport’s Royal Gwent, Nevill Hall in Abergavenny, and more – is also coordinating with the ambulance service, care homes, and voluntary organisations.
Director of planning Hannah Evans told the board that preparations included reviewing last year’s performance while awaiting updated demand modelling from Public Health Wales.
Last winter, a 10.5% surge in hospital attendances forced the board to declare a “critical incident” in early January, despite lower-than-expected rates of respiratory illness.
During that peak, overall hospital bed occupancy reached 1,230, while respiratory admissions doubled from 15 a day in September 2025 to 32 a day by late December.
To cope with the demand, ABUHB opened 20 extra beds at Chepstow Hospital, 10 at the Royal Gwent, and used council sites including Ty Glas y Dorlan in Cwmbran for respite and rehabilitation.
Public Health Wales modelling for the coming winter warns that a “moderate” scenario could see respiratory admissions peak at 40 a day, requiring up to 360 beds. A “severe” outcome could see peak daily admissions reach 56, occupying up to 460 hospital beds.