Patients at Wrexham Maelor Hospital will benefit from a dedicated new outpatient building, expected to open early next year.

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has bought Plas Gororau, a building at Wrexham Technology Park, in order to move outpatient services and expand the emergency department and clinical areas within the main hospital site. 

Financed with support from the Welsh Government, the project will see some outpatient services currently in the main hospital moving into the Ty Derbyn building, which is located within the hospital grounds, and services currently located in Ty Derbyn that do not need an acute base will be moved into Plas Gororau. 

Plas Gororau is a 44,186sq ft building on the technology park with 212 car parking spaces, and is only a six-minute walk from the hospital’s main entrance.  

The new outpatient building will be a huge benefit to patients and the community by positively impacting the experience of patients, reducing waiting times for those waiting for appointments, freeing up emergency department capacity, and helping to relieve pressure on the hospital

Services being moved into Plas Gororau include mental health outpatients, orthopaedic therapy clinics, prehabilitation, sexual health outpatients, the clinical research facility, and the Maelor Academic Unit Of Medical & Surgical Sciences.  

Services will be moved in different phases, with mental health outpatients moving first.

Once this service has moved into Plas Gororau, part of the main outpatient area, which is currently adjacent to the emergency department, will relocate to the vacated mental health service building, enabling the emergency department to expand to support winter pressures. 

A Minor Injuries Unit (MIU) will also be established in the vacant area near the emergency department.

This will be delivered jointly with the Urgent Primary Care Centres (UPCC) and will treat injuries that are not critical or life threatening, helping to relieve pressure on the emergency department, while complementing the service provided by the UPCC. 

Hazel Davies, acute site director at Wrexham Maelor Hospital, said: “Plas Gororau will be much easier for people attending the services that will be based there, as they will no longer need to come into the main hospital. Not least of which the building has its own dedicated parking for both patients and staff. 

The re-organisation of some our services and departments will help with the pathways for our patients and relieve pressures across the hospital

“The re-organisation of some our services and departments will help with the pathways for our patients and relieve pressures across the hospital.

“This also gives us more space in the main hospital to expand our emergency department into the former main outpatient area to help relieve the pressures during peaks times on the department as we evolve our strategy to deliver an urgent care centre on site, co-located with traditional emergency care.” 

Additionally, the hospital is also constructing a purpose-built vaccination centre for North East Wales within Plas Gororau. 

Minister for Health and Social Services, Eluned Morgan, said: “It is fantastic that the Welsh Government has been able to provide funding to help Wrexham Maelor expand its services.

“The new outpatient building will be a huge benefit to patients and the community by positively impacting the experience of patients, reducing waiting times for those waiting for appointments, freeing up emergency department capacity, and helping to relieve pressure on the hospital.”