REVISED PLANS for the redevelopment of the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Rhyl will be presented to Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB), with development chiefs “confident” the project will be delivered.

Plans for a new North Denbighshire Community Hospital, on the former Royal Alexandra site, were revealed in 2013.

Proposals included community beds, a same day minor injuries and illness service, a treatment zone, outpatient therapy services, sexual health, community dental, radiology, adult psychology and mental health services.

The project has been beset by delay since the estimated cost ballooned from £22m to around £80m.

Rhyl Journal: An artist impression of the planned North Denbighshire Community Hospital.An artist impression of the planned North Denbighshire Community Hospital. (Image: BCUHB)

The project remains frozen; it is awaiting Welsh Government approval and the allocation of funds.

However, revised options will be put forward before a full meeting of BCUHB, with the health board saying there has “never been any change in our commitment to delivering a better and enhanced community hospital for the people of North Denbighshire”.

Key elements of the new options in the preferred scheme include:

  • Provision of new services, including beds and a Minor Injuries and Ailments Unit (MIAU) in a new building
  • Increased integrated working between health and social care teams
  • A stronger Third Sector presence at the site
  • A programme of infrastructure improvements to the existing buildings, benefiting staff and visitors to the site and sustaining it well into the future
  • Retention of the Glan Traeth buildings as part of the design work
  • A suitable car parking solution for staff and visitors to the site, working with our local authority partners

A BCUHB spokesperson said: “Since we developed our initial full business case for redevelopment at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Rhyl, the spiralling costs of materials, along with effects of the global pandemic and subsequent economic downturn have rendered the original scheme unaffordable.

“While it may have appeared to members of the public the project had been shelved, behind the scenes staff have been working hard to develop new options for the improvement and enhancement of services on the site.

“In this intervening period some changes to the way we work and how services are configured also allowed us to look at the project differently.

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“There has never been any change in our commitment to delivering a better and enhanced community hospital for the people of North Denbighshire.

“On Thursday, March 28, revised options will be put before a full meeting of the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, at Venue Cymru, Llandudno.

Dr Chris Stockport, executive director of transformation and strategic planning and senior responsible officer for the development, said: “There has been a lot of work undertaken to get to this stage and I really believe we have come up with the best affordable solutions, which will offer greatly enhanced care in a fit-for-purpose environment.

“While this is the start of a process, I feel confident we have developed a deliverable idea for the people of North Denbighshire and something which will be valued as a real community asset.

“Working with our partners at Denbighshire County Council and within the Third Sector, we believe these proposals will deliver better care, closer to home and help relieve some of the pressures faced by Glan Clwyd Hospital.”