PLANS for a new £2.3million hybrid theatre for vascular surgery at Glan Clwyd Hospital have been finalised. 

Health secretary Vaughan Gething paid a visit to the Bodelwyddan based hospital last Friday to reveal the Welsh Government had confirmed funding. The project has been supported by a legacy of more than £500,000 from the Livsey Trust. 

Under the plans, an existing theatre will be converted into a hybrid theatre capable of performing complex vascular surgery. The theatre, which will be equipped with “advanced” medical imaging devices, will allow a full range of procedures to be carried out in a single room.

Mr Gething said: “There are many patient benefits to centralising complex services on one site, in particular, we expect to see faster recovery times as a result of procedures being undertaken using less invasive techniques.

“We also expect the development of the vascular network and this significant investment to lead to more sustainable on-call rotas and that it will increase the attractiveness of the health board in terms of the recruitment to consultant and other posts.”


Professor Dean Williams, clinical director for the vascular service and a vascular surgeon, added: “This development, together with the excellent existing vascular services in North Wales, will see us having one of the UK’s leading vascular services.

“We are following national guidance in developing this service, and a lot of work has gone in to developing the facility at Glan Clwyd Hospital.

“This investment in state of the art facilities and additional clinical staff will allow us to perform minimally invasive procedures, reducing length of stay and significantly shortening recovery time, following major vascular surgery.”

The Livsey Trust is a charitable trust, which supports services at Glan Clwyd Hospital, was set up in memory of former Rhos-on-Sea residents Robert and Flora Livsey.

The theatre will support a new vascular network model centred at Glan Clywd Hospital and will retain procedures at Ysbyty Gwynedd and Wrexham Maelor Hospital.

Ann Jones, AM for the Vale of Clwyd, said: “This investment will help patients and staff alike, and will increase the attractiveness of the health board in terms of consultant recruitment.”

The network model for vascular surgery was recommended in an invited review by the Royal College of Surgeons, and will mirror best practice provision across the UK.

The one site approach will also provide an improvement to surgical training, allowing multi-professional training in one place.