Posted: Sat 4th Apr 2020

Coronavirus: Work begins on turning Deeside Leisure Centre into a temporary hospital

News and Info from Deeside, Flintshire, North Wales
This article is old - Published: Saturday, Apr 4th, 2020

Contractors have started transforming Deeside Leisure Centre into a 250-bed field hospital in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The additional beds will be made available to the NHS as part of the multi-agency partnership between Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, Flintshire County Council, Aura Leisure and Libraries, and Wrexham County Borough Council.

A video posted on social media today shows excavators ripping up the 1,452 square metre indoor wooden skate park – one of the largest of its type in Europe – to make way for the hospital ward.

Deeside Leisure Centre is the third temporary hospital to be announced in North Wales this week.

Venue Cymru in Llandudno will be converted to hold an additional 350 temporary beds, and Bangor University’s Canolfan Brailsford will provide a further 250 beds.

All three temporary hospitals will help prevent admissions to the Health Board’s three acute hospitals, and help patients who have received treatment at Ysbyty Gwynedd, Glan Clwyd Hospital and Wrexham Maelor Hospital to recover in order to return home.

During a press conference on Friday, First Minister Mark Drakeford said the hospitals will be, “step down facilities, they will be for people who are recovering.

So some will be for coronavirus patients who are no longer infectious but are not yet fully recovered and continuing care, but they will be other patients recovering from other conditions who can be looked after in a field hospital.

Thus, freeing up the more intensive capacity that a fully equipped hospital will be able to provide.”

Speaking on staffing of the field hospitals he said, “We expect staffing to be a mixture, there will be people who are currently employed in the NHS.

There will be people from the fantastic number of people who have come forward, recently retired doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, student nurses in their final year of training, medical students who are just about to go back into go into the workforce.”

The First Minister also explained that visiting will be a decision “for those on the ground.”

Following the announcement that the leisure centre was to be used as a hospital, Alyn and Deeside AM Jack Sargeant said:

“This is is a real team effort and I want to thank everyone involved in making this happen. We must ensure that we have the capacity in North East Wales, to help everyone who needs it.

It is crucial that we all continue to do our bit and stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives”

As of today, Saturday, April 4, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Wales stands at 2,853, although the true number of cases is likely to be higher. 

Sadly 13 further deaths have been reported of people who had tested positive for coronavirus, taking the number of deaths in Wales to 154.

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