Concern over £300m super-hospital future

An artist's impression of the Specialist and Critical Care Centre on the site of the former Llanfrechfa Grange Hospital

A £300m super-hospital for south Wales appears to have been "kicked into the long grass", according to a Tory MP.

Plans for the Specialist and Critical Care Centre near Cwmbran were put on hold in 2009, before being put back on the agenda a year later.

Monmouth MP David Davies called on Health Secretary Vaughan Gething for clarity but said he had "failed to provide answers".

A Welsh Government spokesperson said further work and advice was needed.

The new hospital is planned for the old Llanfrechfa Grange site

In his letter, Mr Gething said given the "size and the significance" of the investment, the proposal "needs to evidence a robust case" to meet the Welsh Government's investment criteria, which includes affordability and value for money.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: "The final business case has been reviewed independently, however further work and advice is needed.

"We expect this work to be completed before the end of the calendar year."

Mr Davies said the plans were given the green light by then Health Minister Edwina Hart in "a blaze of publicity" just before the 2011 Welsh Assembly elections.

'None the wiser'

"Nothing much has happened since," he said.

"We are none the wiser as to whether the new hospital will ever be built.

"This ongoing secrecy and complete lack of transparency is a real cause for concern."

Mr Davies now plans to make a Freedom of Information request to find out what is delaying the approval of Aneurin Bevan University Health Board's final business case, which was submitted last October.