£50m Plan for Hospital Site

Cardigan is to get a new modernised hospital after councillors approved planning permission for a £50m development of the Bath House site. Liberty Mercian, a South Wales property develop- ment company, plans to build a retail, social care housing and hospital on the land just to the north of the town centre.

Nick Busk, chairman of the Cardigan Hospital project board, said, “This is great news for the people of Cardigan and the surrounding area.

“The current much-loved and respected Cardigan Hospital is no longer suitable for the delivery of the type and scale of care services that the NHS needs to provide in this area.

“With our new location secure and the building of a new hospital not long away, we can deliver an immensely improved range and quality of care services.

“There is a lot of hard work ahead, and some demanding time scales to be met, but the trust is putting together an extremely able project team.”

Patient champions will be appointed in every Welsh NHS Trust to oversee hygiene.

The move comes after legislation was introduced which requires NHS trusts to nominate a non- executive director – and Powys Local Health Board to nominate a non-officer member – to champion patients and the public’s views at senior management level.

They will also be charged with providing information about what is being done to improve the situation at their local hospital.

Hospital cleanliness tsars were initially proposed by Val Lloyd AM – this is the first time legislation proposed by an Assembly Member has been approved and come into force.

Heath Minister Dr Brian Gibbons said, “Patients and the public are naturally concerned about the risks of contracting healthcare associated infections.

“It is therefore important that they are able to have their say on any concerns they may have, but equally it is important hospitals are able to explain what they are doing to improve the situation and reduce the risks.”