£1.4m funding for north Wales sick and premature baby unit

More than £1.4m has been pledged towards a unit to treat very sick and premature babies in north Wales.

The facility is expected to open at Glan Clwyd Hospital, Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire, in 2018.

Funding will help pay for electrical infrastructure upgrades and a transport incubator for transferring the most critically ill babies.

It follows the announcement Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board will stay in special measures for two years.

The Welsh government cash will also help the health board develop an outline business case for the new Sub Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Centre for North Wales.

First Minister Carwyn Jones called the funding "a shot in the arm for the project".

'Great determination'

During a visit to the hospital on Friday, Mr Jones said people in north Wales can be "absolutely confident" about care standards.

He said the decision to keep the health board in special measures for two years had nothing to do with patient safety.

"We needed to be confident that the board was moving in the right direction. We weren't," he added.

He said there is a "great determination" to take it in the right direction, by providing "the right level of support".