03/29/2024

Wales News Online

Local & National News for Wales

ONGOING cladding work at Swansea’s Singleton Hospital, which is needed to comply with fire regulations, is likely to take a further two years to complete.
Cladding on the sides of the hospital was replaced in 2019, and work began on the main front section in April this year.
A Swansea Bay University Health Board risk report said the target completion date was October 2023. Insulation and windows will be replaced at the same time.
The report said the existing cladding on the front facade wasn’t compliant with regulations.
Asked by the Local Democracy Reporter Service why the project would take two years to finish, the health board said it had to be done in phases from top to bottom.
It said in a statement: “Patients in the wards affected have to be moved to designated empty wards in turn as the work continues across the front façade.
“This has required considerable planning to ensure minimal disruption, which has added to the length of the contract.”
It added that the current cladding had been classed as contaminated waste as asbestos has blown through the roof void and onto the back of it. All health and safety regulations, said the health board, were being met.
The new cladding will be blue and grey, and more energy-efficient than what is there now.
Singleton Hospital, Sketty, opened in the 1950s and has more than 500 beds.
Health board chiefs want it to become a centre of excellence for planned healthcare, women’s health, cancer care and diagnostic tests, and to focus on routine operations which do not need critical care.
The board’s two other main hospitals at Morriston and Port Talbot will become centres of excellence in different areas of healthcare, according to a new strategy called Changing for the Future.
People can respond to the proposals up until October 1.

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