The maternity ward at the hospital affected by the leak was closed longer than planned

Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board (UHB) has confirmed that the maternity and neonatal unit at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend will not reopen in early December as originally planned. Maternity services were expected to remain closed for 12 weeks from Monday September 2nd for “urgent and essential improvement work”.

However, earlier this month Cwm Taf Morgannwg declared a critical incident after the results of an investigation revealed significant damage to the hospital's roof. The damage was caused by heavy rains, which caused leaks throughout the building. You can read more about the problem here.

Due to the condition of the roof and the “urgent and fast-moving” situation at the hospital, the maternity and neonatal unit will now not reopen in December as planned. Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB cannot confirm exactly when services will resume at the hospital, but they expect this to be “very early 2025”.

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The roof replacement work will begin in November and will be carried out in stages. The maternity and neonatal ward will be tackled first and all work is expected to be completed by summer 2025. For the latest health and Covid news sign up to our newsletter here

Due to the condition of the roof of the main building, patients have been moved from the first floor wards where the maternity ward is located, meaning 200 patients will need to be accommodated in alternative accommodation. Patients with the most serious needs remained at the Princess of Wales, while others were discharged or transferred to a community facility or to other hospitals within the health authority.

Suzanne Hardacre, Director of Obstetrics at the Health Board, said: “Due to urgent maintenance on our neonatal and maternity units at the Princess of Wales Hospital, services have been temporarily relocated to other hospital sites since the beginning of September. This important work is progressing quickly and is currently on track.

“However, in recent weeks major problems have been identified with the condition of the hospital’s roof. This requires an urgent program of work to replace the roof of the main building and this includes the area where our maternity and neonatal wards are located. Although the roof in this area is a priority and will be replaced first, unfortunately the work will mean that our maternity and newborn services will not be able to move back into the hospital as planned in early December.

“This is an urgent and fast-moving situation and we do not yet have an exact return date. However, we expect this to be very early in 2025. We fully understand that this is a worrying time for our women and families and our priority is to keep them informed as we move through this program of work. I would like to thank our fantastic staff and everyone in our communities for their patience and understanding as we navigate this challenging time.”