ONE of the biggest building projects in Gwent this century will begin in earnest next month.

Work is set to start on the transformation of a large part of the former Llanfrechfa Grange Hospital site – and neighbouring land – for the long-awaited £350 million Specialist and Critical Care Centre (SCCC).

Funding for the project was confirmed last autumn after a lengthy planning and business case process.

And in a matter of weeks the site will be a hive of activity, as the task of building a hospital designed to treat Gwent’s sickest patients begins.

Aneurin Bevan University Health Board hopes to have the 560-bed hospital ready to take patients during 2021.

It will boast more than 40 specialist services, and will have a helicopter pad for air ambulance patients.

The SCCC will deal with all major emergencies, and will treat and care for those needing complex specialist or critical care.

It will include a 24-hour assessment unit, dealing with emergencies and resuscitation cases, and will have a broad range of diagnostic services, operating theatres, and a consultant-led obstetric unit.

The hospital will have a dedicated paediatric assessment unit which will manage all paediatric emergencies, and it will be a base for neonatal intensive care.

Pathology, pharmacy, and radiology, including MRI and CT scanners, will be available.

Six hundred people will be employed in the construction of the hospital, a process which will involve the moving of 150,000 cubic metres of soil.

There will be 30,000 cubic metres of concrete required and, once completed, the hospital will contain 10,500 voice and data points, 13,500 light fittings, and 190 kilometres of cables.