A LARGE Gwent hospital has just one working lift, it has been revealed.

Plans for a redevelopment of Nevill Hall Hospital are currently being drawn up by Gwent’s Aneurin Bevan University Health Board which is running a public engagement campaign to seek the public’s views on its proposals over which services should be based there.

The NHS body has been developing proposals for what it calls “enhanced local general hospitals”, that also include Newport’s Royal Gwent and Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr in Ystrad Mynach, as a result of its centralising its most acute services at the Grange Hospital in Cwmbran, which opened in 2020.

Nevill Hall, in Abergavenny, has been identified as the board’s priority among its building estate as large parts of its are impacted by lightweight RAAC concrete.

Public buildings across the UK were found to be at risk from RAAC, or Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete, that was a commonly used material when new safety guidance was issued in August 2023.

All flat roofed buildings at Nevill Hall, which opened in the 1960s, have RAAC present with only the hospital’s two ‘H’ towers, that house its wards, unaffected.

Health chiefs told a meeting with Monmouthshire county councillors they are developing the first stage of a business plan, a strategic outline case, for submission to the Welsh Government for funding for a new building likely between the two tower blocks.

“The challenge of developing Nevill Hall has always been there though it is ramped up the priority list by the presence of RAAC,” Hannah Evans the health board’s director of planning told a joint meeting of Monmouthshire council’s public services and people scrutiny committees.

Fortnightly checks by engineers are currently carried out on all areas of the hospital where scaffolding is used to prop up roofs containing RAAC and Ms Evans said it isn’t intended undertaking the costly removal of RAAC with the preferred plan to redevelop the site.

She said there is “challenging maintenance backlog” at Nevill Hall, that was estimated at £35 million in 2023, which also includes its lifts.

Conservative councillor for Goytre Fawr, Jan Butler, said at present there is just one working lift at the 213-bed hospital.

As a result there are queues for the lift and it can be crowded including with haematology patients with weakened immune systems, said Cllr Butler.

Ms Evans said the board intends addressing the problem as a priority: “We are not waiting to resolve the RAAC to sort the lifts out. We are sorting those lifts as a priority and have got a plan in place to do that.”

Ms Evans said some services would also be relocated to manage use of the lifts and described them as “old” and requiring more frequent maintenance.

The strategic outline case for the redevelopment of Nevill Hall is expected to be put before the health board’s September meeting for approval and submission to the Welsh Government. Work on new buildings wouldn’t be expected to begin until 2027 or 2028.

The public engagement period runs until Friday, August 15 and members of the public can attend the remaining presentations at Stow Park Community Centre, Brynhyfryd Rd, Newport on Wednesday, July 30 from 3.30pm to 5.30pm; the Education Centre at Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr on Wednesday, August 6 from 4pm to 6pm and at the Bridges Centre, Monmouth on Tuesday, August 12 from 5.30pm to 7.30pm.

An online meeting via Microsoft Teams will also be held from 5.30pm to 7pm on Thursday, August 7 and a link for anyone wishing to attend is available by emailing [email protected].