About Swansea Bay University Health Board
Swansea
Bay University
Health Board
Swansea Bay University Health Board (formerly ABMU) was created on 1 April 2019, and serves a population of around 390,000 in the Neath Port Talbot and Swansea areas.
- 49 GP
practices - 31 Community
pharmacies - 72 Dental practicies
including orthodontists - 92 Optometry
practices - 01 Mental health and
learning disability services - 01 Burns and plastic surgery unit
at Morriston Hospital
Our Hospitals
Swansea Bay UHB is made up of three major hospitals: Morriston and Singleton in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot Hospital in Baglan, Port Talbot.
There is also a community hospital and several primary care resource centres providing clinical services outside the main hospitals; along with a full range of specialised and local healthcare services including 49 GP practices and a fully operating burns unit.
Morriston Hospital
Morriston is one of the largest hospitals in Wales.
It is the regional acute tertiary hospital for South West Wales, offering a range of specialist services, including trauma and orthopaedics, renal medicine, neurology, oral and maxillofacial surgery and it hosts the regional cleft lip and palate service for children and adults.
It offers one of two cardiac centres in Wales and is home to the Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery, and also the bariatric (obesity service) for Wales. It has a modern intensive care unit.
Morriston has one of the busiest emergency departments (A&E) in Wales. Swansea Bay hosts the Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service Cymru (EMRTS), otherwise known as the Flying Doctors, and the service works closely with Morriston Hospital.
It also provides acute medical beds and a wide range of surgical and urological services, children’s wards and a children’s high dependency unit. It has a full range of high-quality diagnostic and therapeutic services, and outpatient services.
Over the past few years Morriston has undergone a £100m-plus redevelopment with new buildings replacing pre-war estate. Most recently it has undergone a major investment with the building of the new Acute Medical Unit.
Neath Port Talbot Hospital
Swansea Bay UHB’s newest hospital, Neath Port Talbot was opened in 2003 and has about 200 beds.
Neath Port Talbot Hospital provides a range of inpatient and outpatient services, as well as some specialist services, including fertility and neurorehabilitation. Patients also have access to the ground-breaking Rapid Diagnosis Centre, which offers diagnostic services to those patients whose symptoms to not fit into any of the existing referral pathways.
In June 2023 a new £21m operating theatre complex was opened, offering an expansion of planned surgery for orthopaedics and urology.
The Minor Injury Unit is open seven days a week. Other services include urology suite, endoscopy, planned orthopaedic and general surgery, day surgery, care of the elderly, rheumatology, and radiology.
The Afan Nedd Day Unit provides a range of multidisciplinary services for patients with multiple health problems, while the palliative care unit provides specialist therapy and support for cancer patients.
The hospital also has a children’s assessment unit, children’s centre and inpatient mental health services.
Neath Port Talbot has been chosen by the Bevan Commission as a Bevan Innovation Hub, leading the way for quality improvement in NHS Wales.
Singleton Hospital
Singleton Hospital, overlooking Swansea Bay, hosts a range of services. It provides a regional, consultant-led maternity unit and neonatal intensive care. Other services include ophthalmology, ear nose and throat, and genito-urinary services.
The South West Wales Cancer Centre is also at Singleton, along with an iconic Maggie’s Centre located in its grounds. Bone marrow transplants are carried out by the haematology service.
Singleton has a dedicated day surgery unit which was expanded in 2022 to include a new £4m theatre for eye surgery.
Singleton Hospital will be undergoing significant change over the next few years. The ultimate vision is Singleton playing a key part as an innovative health campus offering 21st century services, care and values. An important part of this is the continuing development of ambulatory care – services where patients get faster access to treatment without needing overnight stays.
Gorseinon Hospital
Gorseinon Hospital is a dedicated rehabilitation centre for the elderly.
Patients at Gorseinon are treated by a specialist team of physiotherapists and occupational therapists to reach a safe state for discharge.
As with all our hospitals, well-being and independence are huge priorities at Gorseinon, and patients are encouraged to take part in group activities and to get up, dressed and moving when they feel able to.
Gorseinon Hospital also has outpatient services, a hot clinic, nurse-therapy-led falls clinic, a wound clinic and Parkinson’s centre.
Specialist mental
health facilities
Cefn Coed Hospital
Cefn Coed is a mental health facility with three specialist clinics.
The Tawe Clinic: Inpatient Mental Health Services
Tawe provides assessment, therapeutic interventions, and support for those experiencing an acute mental episode where inpatient care is necessary.
There are two wards – Fendrod providing care for men, and Clyne providing care for women. Children and adolescent care is delivered through a clinical network of CAMHS (child and adolescent mental health service) providers.
Gwelfor: Adult Mental Health Services
A new 18-bed slow stream rehabilitation unit with two, four-bedroom step down houses.
Gwelfor provides a reformed rehabilitation pathway for mental health patients, working with them to increase their independence before discharge.
Ysbryd y Coed: Older People Mental Health Services
This 60-bed unit across three wards provides highly specialised care for older people with dementia.
The oval shaped wards each have 16 en-suite rooms, and two twin en-suite rooms for couples, family or friendship pairs. The wards have been uniquely designed to provide a safe wandering loop to help patients navigate the wards and therapeutic areas.
Tonna Hospital
Tonna Hospital mental health facility specialises in care for the elderly, and is also home to Uned Gobaith, the only specialist perinatal mental health unit for mothers and babies in Wales.
Taith Newydd
Based at Glanrhyd Hospital in Bridgend, Taith Newydd is a £16.4 million low-secure mental health unit.
The centre has 28 single bedrooms with en-suite facilities across two wards, which each have games rooms, kitchens, and a gym.
Patients have access to single-sex sitting rooms for socialising, specially designed private spaces for family visits, and safe garden areas for fresh air and exercise.
Caswell Clinic
Caswell is a medium-secure, forensic mental health unit.
This facility provides specialist services for people who are offenders, or have the potential to offend, and takes patients from across Wales.
Other key
healthcare services
GP Practices
Our GPs work alongside a wide range of health professionals in local surgeries and health centres across the area. There are 49 GP practices across the Swansea Bay area.
Dental Care
The Swansea Bay area houses 72 dental practices, including orthodontists.
Two of Swansea’s dental practices, Eastside Dental based in Beacon Health Centre and Belgrave dental practice in Uplands, are part of a pioneering pilot scheme due to be rolled out across Wales over the coming years. The scheme is designed to help dentists see more patients by focusing on prevention rather than cure.
The scheme has already allowed one of the practices to treat over 3,000 more patients.
Optometry
Swansea has 31 optometry practices.
The Eye Health Examination Service offers patients free assessments for minor issues. Optometrists in Wales can also offer a Low Vision Service, giving those with existing eye conditions one full free assessment a year.
Pharmacies
There are 92 community pharmacies in the Swansea Bay area. Our pharmacists can offer consultations and provide prescription-only medication for a number of ailments directly from their local practice. They also provide over-the-counter treatments for everyday conditions.
Channelling the
power of digital
We recognise the importance of digital in improving patient care, safety and quality whilst also delivering transformational change.
Our digital team works closely with nurse colleagues to design, develop and implement systems to enable the delivery of transformational change, whilst also bringing our offer in line with increasing expectations of technology in people’s daily lives.
At Swansea Bay UHB where we are maximising digital and using it to transform people’s health and care. You will use digital solutions such as:
- Hospital Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (HEPMA)
- Electronic Nursing Documentation and the Welsh Nursing Care Record (WNCR)
- Electronic Whiteboard Solution (SIGNAL)
Swansea Bay Patient Portal and Digital Nursing
Patients and their carers will also engage by using the Swansea Bay Patient Portal, empowering them to work closer with you on managing their care.
There is a real sense
of belonging at the
healthboard and in my
local community
