Just one of Wales’ hospitals has ever
this capacity to its fullest extent.
But he warned there was still potential for some of them to be used in future should a second peak of the virus hit the country.
“It would not, in my view, be sensible to take apart all of the field hospital capacity we have created,” he said.
“We spent £166m on creating the field hospitals, and if I’d had the time again I would still create them to give us that extra capacity.”
Mr Gething said one of the most vivid images he witnessed before the pandemic took hold in Wales was seeing “a modern healthcare system being overrun and overwhelmed in northern Italy”.
He added: “The message there was to take the time to prepare, to retrain your staff, get people out of hospital so they don’t get overrun, and build extra capacity if you can.
“And that’s what we did in both critical care, where we more than doubled capacity, and we created the field hosptials.”
The minister said a review of the future of field hospitals is currently ongoing, with the results being made public later this month.
“I will then make a public statement on not just the outcomes of that review but about what that then means for the choices for our whole system,” he said.
“That might mean that hospitals will be used as step-down care facilities as we look to have more regular NHS activity return, as well as needing to maintain – even in a mothballed way – some of that field hospital capacity because we know that coronavirus may return with a further peak.
“We need to prepare properly for what might still come and take a sensible and measured approach to the use of field hospitals in the future. That’s what the review will allow us to do.”
We contacted South Wales’ health boards to provide us with an update on their field hospitals – and this is what they said...
■ Cardiff and Vale UHB
A spokeswoman for the health board confirmed that a total of 46 patients have been treated at the Dragon’s Heart Hospital since it opened.
The temporary site will be retained until the autumn. However, it is currently empty.
“Cardiff and Vale UHB will be using the capacity at its main hospital sites for Covid-19 patients,” she said.
“The Dragon’s Heart Hospital sites are available to admit patients should