Plan for £6.75m palliative care centre at hospital
PEOPLE with incurable and life-limiting conditions could soon benefit from a new, multi-millionpound care centre, it has been revealed.
Macmillan Cancer Support and Cwm Taf University Health Board have outlined plans to build a new £6.75m specialist care unit at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital, near Llantrisant.
The eight-bed unit would provide in-patient, out-patient and day palliative care and support for people with incurable cancer and other conditions.
If the plans are approved, work would be expected to start later this year with the centre projected to open in late 2018 or early 2019. Macmillan would contribute £5m towards the unit, making it the charity’s biggest single investment in Wales.
Dr Ian Back, consultant in palliative medicine at Cwm Taf University Health Board, said: “A new stateof-the-art specialist unit would provide patients with the high-quality care they need in a comfortable environment for both them and their loved ones.
“Building the new unit at Royal Glamorgan Hospital will also ensure that patients have access to specialist tests and treatment more easily without the need for unnecessary transfers between hospitals when they are often too unwell.”
Palliative, or end-of-life, care for cancer patients in Rhondda Cynon Taff is currently provided at Y Bwthyn Cottage Hospital in Pontypridd.
Although the quality of care at Y Bwthyn is known to be excellent, its location means that patients need to be transferred to Royal Glamorgan Hospital to access specialist tests and treatments which can be difficult and distressing.
Similarly, some patients who go to Royal Glamorgan Hospital may benefit from being in a palliative care environment but are too unwell to be transferred to Y Bwthyn.
Susan Morris, head of services for Macmillan Cancer Support in Wales, said: “We are pleased to be working with Cwm Taf University Health Board on this proposed unit, which we believe would help people to receive palliative care more easily in a comfortable environment.
“If the plans are approved, it will be Macmillan’s biggest single investment in Wales, which we can only fund thanks to the public’s generosity and support.”
It follows plans announced last year to create a specialist breast cancer “centre for excellence” at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital.