First look at proposed radiotherapy centre at Nevill Hall Hospital

Plans for a new radiotherapy centre which will provide cancer treatment closer to home to patients in Gwent have been outlined.

A pre-planning application consultation is being held on proposals for a satellite radiotherapy centre at Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny.

The project is a joint venture between Aneurin Bevan University Health Board and Velindre University NHS Trust, with the proposal aiming to provide additional and more accessible radiotherapy services for the residents of Gwent and South Powys.

And following several years of planning, the first images showing how the proposed centre could look have now been released as part of the pre-application consultation.

The plans include knocking down an antenatal building at the hospital and replacing it with the new two-storey radiotherapy unit of up to 3,000sqm.

The antenatal service unit will be relocated within the hospital with no loss of provision.

The centre will be an extension to the existing hospital buildings, but a planning statement says it will have its own “distinct identity” and a dedicated entrance.

A courtyard garden, providing views out and a place to sit and enjoy nature, will act as “a focal point” of the proposal.

Treatment facilities will be situated on the ground floor, while staff facilities such as offices, workshops and rest facilities will be on the first floor.

Facilities of the centre will include a waiting area, on treatment review suite, radiotherapy treatment suite and imaging suite.

The centre will also be “as carbon neutral as possible” and will include solar panels on the roof, according to a planning statement.

The radiotherapy unit has been identified to provide cancer treatment for patients closer to home, with the majority currently having to travel to the Velindre hospital in Cardiff.

It forms part of the transforming cancer services in south east Wales programme, which aims to provide treatments closer to home, reduce inequality of service and minimise travel times.

“The vision for the new SRU (satellite radiotherapy unit) within Nevill Hall Hospital not only seeks to deliver a vital new cancer treatment centre but also seeks to deliver the new centre with wellbeing, the environment and architecture at its heart,” a planning statement says.

The development also includes re-aligned access for ambulance as well as a new car park overspill area, providing 74 car parking spaces for hospital users, and a new transformer substation.

A pre-application consultation runs until February 13 with details at nevill-hall-hospital-satellite-radiotherapy-unit-consultation.co.uk.