Successful first year in Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr

The £172m hospital opened to patients in November 2011 and replaced Caerphilly District Miners Hospital and several community hospitals.

 

The highest number of patients were seen in the Minor Injuries Unit, more than 28,000 (2,450 attendances per month) were treated for minor injuries, 42% more people than were treated in Caerphilly District Miners Hospital.

 

Unlike the previous service at the Caerphilly District Miners Hospital, the Minor Injuries Unit in Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr is open 7 days a week for 24 hours.

 

A team of Emergency Nurse Practitioners is now well established and rotate into Accident and Emergency at the Royal Gwent Hospital to ensure skill levels are kept at the highest possible level.

 

Staff in the Medical Assessment Unit assessed, on average, around 470 patients every month.

 

The GP Out of Hours Service is also an integral part of the hospital and operates a 7 day a week service from 6.30pm – 8am a total of 16,858 calls were dealt with throughout the year.     

 

The midwifery led Birth Centre in the hospital provides a home from home environment with two birth pools, the unit enables families to be involved throughout the birth.

 

320 babies were born between January and October this year, compared with 271 in Caerphilly District Miners Hospital during the same period in 2011.

 

Outpatient clinics are seeing double the number of patients than were previously seen at the Miners’ - 4,000 outpatient appointments each quarter, compared to 2,000.

 

Children’s outpatient appointments have also doubled and are now close to 2,500 for the year.       

 

New services have also moved in that were not previously available in the county borough, rheumatology outpatient services previously provided from Cardiff 46,000 patient attendances for therapies including physical rehabilitation and speech and language therapy.

 

A dedicated orthopaedic foot and ankle clinic is based in the hospital and takes patients from across Gwent, in addition to orthopaedic surgery, general surgery and gynaecological operations are also taking place.

 

Ophthalmology clinics are also taking place in Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr and Ear Nose and Throat surgery will be provided in the near future, around 4,300 operations are planned each year.   

 

Single rooms have provided more privacy, dignity and quiet for patients’ which is improving recovery. Infection control has been greatly improved with the number of Clostridium Difficile cases almost halved to 24 cases between November 2011 to October 2012, compared to 43 cases for the same period the previous year in Caerphilly District Miners and Ystrad Mynach Hospital.       

 

A recent visit by the Community Health Council in October showed significant improvements in areas where there had been some teething problems. There are still areas to be improved but overall the first year of the hospital has been a successful one.