Reintroduction of services, Royal Glamorgan Hospital
Restrictions in services at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital are now being carefully lifted, working closely with partners including Public Health Wales and the Welsh Ambulance Service, as part of our ongoing response to a COVID-19 outbreak at the site.
Patients who phone 999 and require an emergency hospital admission are now again being taken to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital, after temporary changes to emergency admissions were brought in last month. In addition, surgical and other planned activity is restarting in a phased and safe way.
As of today (Friday, October 16), anyone within the Royal Glamorgan Hospital area in need of an ambulance will be admitted there, rather than taken to other local hospitals, including Princess of Wales, Bridgend, and Prince Charles Hospital, Merthyr Tydfil. This update follows an announcement earlier this week that GP emergency referral patients and anyone who self-presents at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital and requires an emergency admission following assessment will now also be admitted there.
The changes have been introduced following the activation of Ysbyty’r Seren in Bridgend, where appropriate patients are now being transferred from Cwm Taf Morgannwg’s three acute hospitals.
Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB Medical Director Nick Lyons said: “Patient safety always has been of utmost importance in making these changes, and safety will continue to remain at the centre of our planning, as we lift restrictions at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital.
“Ysbyty’r Seren takes the pressures off the other acute sites that allow us to do other activity. Our staff have been working for months in challenging and difficult circumstances and we’re very proud of all who rise to the challenge, day after day.”
On September 30, Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB introduced a number of temporary service changes at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital to support the management of an outbreak of COVID-19 at the site.
The changes that were put in place were:
- The temporary suspension of elective surgery (with the exception of a very small number of urgent cancer cases which have been clinically prioritised);
- Any patient requiring an emergency admission who would normally be admitted at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital will be taken to either Princess of Wales Hospital, Prince Charles Hospital or University Hospital Wales in Cardiff (with the exception of children);
- The Emergency Department at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital remains open for walk-in patients and patients who can be treated in ambulatory care (i.e. an area in the Emergency Department at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital);
- Welsh Ambulance Service (999) patients (excluding children) will be diverted temporarily to alternative sites, namely Princess of Wales Hospital Bridgend, Prince Charles Hospital Merthyr Tydfil and University Hospital of Wales Cardiff;
- No change to the self-contained paediatric wards at Royal Glamorgan Hospital, they remain open;
- The re-opening of the Tirion Birthing Centre, which had been temporarily closed during the pandemic, has been postponed;
- Mental health services, including our crisis services, remain open.
Working closely with Public Health Wales, the Health Board has regularly reviewed these measures and we are now in a position to make these changes safely, as part of our ongoing response to the pandemic.
