THE RUSH FOR COVID BEDS
■ Swansea Bay University Health Board Roy Thomas, the businessman behind the Bay Studios site on the sprawling industrial site off Fabian Way, handed over the large Elba building for a new 1,000-bed facility during the first wave rent free.
Swansea council was commissioned by Swansea Bay UHB to oversee the conversion of the building into a field hospital and the first 420-bed phase was officially handed over to the health board on May 7 last year.
The health board confirmed in a Freedom of Information response that while no licence for the Bay site had been finalised, use of the building was on a “peppercorn” basis, ie there was no cost involved to the health board.
The health board also took over the Llandarcy Academy of Sport building, just off the M4 at Llandarcy, and installed hundreds of beds at “lightning speed”. Taking on the training facility on a short-term lease, the beds were never used and the space was handed back to the NTPC Group of Colleges in September 2020.
The health board said it never had a licence agreement for the Llandarcy site as it was never used or occupied and there were no rental costs either. It is planning to continue using the Bay field hospital as a mass vaccination centre “for the next few months” and its use after this “will depend on decisions about whether an autumn Covid-19 booster programme is required”.
■ Hywel Dda University Health Board Hywel Dda paid Bluestone Holiday Resort £5m to use its premises as a hospital to take coronavirus patients. Hospital build costs were on top of this.
A health board spokesman said it had worked with local authority partners in March 2019 to identify and commission a number of field hospital sites.
He said: “Our overriding objective was to secure significant extra surge capacity for our patients based on the available modelling at the time, as well as evidence from the Continent which suggested – both then and now – that the spread of the virus was contributing to extreme pressures on healthcare services.
“Hywel Dda University Health Board asked Pembrokeshire County Council to help identify sites in the county for a recovery hospital facility, and the Bluestone site was selected as the most appropriate.”
It was built in just under a month and the original contract ran to the end of December 2020. It was extended from January 1 to March 31, 2021, on the same terms and conditions and is now being dismantled.
The health board said Ysbyty Enfys Selwyn Samuel, in Llanelli, would be retained until 2022 as a surge facility in the event of a possible third wave, while Cardigan Leisure Centre would continue to be used as a Test, Trace and Protect and mass vaccination facility.
■ Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board
The health board initially visited the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) training facility at the Vale Resort in Hensol in March 2020 to assess its suitability as a field hospital. Although work commenced on March 30, it was never used and the facility was quickly returned to the WRU, with just over £100,000 paid to the organisation.
Direct payments to the WRU amounted to £115,717 and covered security, cleaning, use of the kitchens and catering facilities and project set-up costs.
A spokesman for the health board added: “Initial heads of terms were agreed via email documentation between the WRU and the health board and solicitors commenced work developing a licence agreement for signature.
“However, due to the high likelihood of the WRU requiring the return of their training facility coupled with an updated bed modelling plan a decision was taken to decommission the field hospital in early July. The site was vacated by August.
“As the detail of the licence was still under review when the decision was made to vacate and to cease occupation a formal licence was not finalised. Consequently both parties operated under the heads of terms defined in the arrangement.”
■ Cardiff and Vale University Health Board
The Cardiff and Vale University Health Board occupied the Principality Stadium on March 30, 2020, and the stadium was formally handed back to the WRU on December 13, 2020.
The health board said it was unable to provide the figure for how much it paid to use the building, and said the contractual agreements with the WRU were “complex” and a final figure had “yet to be finalised”.
In an FoI response, the health board confirmed the Dragon’s Heart Hospital (DHH) total revenue costs were assessed at £59.442m, with a further £2.698m capital costs. When pressed to provide a breakdown of exactly what those revenue costs are, they said: “Cardiff and Vale University Health Board (the UHB) do not hold this information. The revenue costs of the DHH project have not yet been finalised and are to be subject to external audit review by the Wales Audit Office at the end of the 2020-21 financial year.
“Forecast project costs are now in the region of £55.73m revenue and £2.37m capital.”
It did add that no rental costs had been paid to partners as part of a commercial agreement.
■ Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board
Betsi Cadwaladr took over the Venue Cymru building in Llandudno – owned by Conwy council – and Canolfan Brailsford at Bangor University to use as field hospitals.
The contracts for the use of both buildings did not specify a daily, weekly or monthly rate but did agree that any running costs incurred would be paid while in use as a field hospital.
An FoI response added: “The costs vary at each site depending on the agreed basis of service but generally include utility costs and some maintenance. Business rates are chargeable on Venue Cymru, as the Canolfan Brailsford site is below the rateable value threshold, rates are not chargeable.”
Between April 2020 and January 2021, the health board paid £11,253 to the landlord for the use of Canolfan Brailsford and £12,129 for the use of Venue Cymru.