THE Welsh Government has spent £166m to create new field hospitals and increased bed capacity to support the NHS in the fight against coronavirus in Wales.
The funding, confirmed in a statement from the Welsh Government, has funded 19 field hospitals in Wales to double capacity in less than eight weeks.
Health boards have repurposed existing buildings, including the Principality Stadium, a holiday park and even a television studio to provide an additional 6,000 beds.
In North Wales, field hospitals have been set up at Deeside Leisure Centre, Bangor University's Canolfan Brailsford sport and leisure centre, and Venue Cymru in Llandudno.
Rainbow bridge
The three North Wales field hospitals have the name Enfys, which means rainbow – the symbol of hope and thank you to the NHS during the pandemic.
The creation of field hospitals also includes the repurposing of Bluestone Holiday Park and Parc y Scarlets in west Wales.
Field hospitals are designed to support the NHS during the coronavirus pandemic by providing extra bed capacity but they will also help normal hospital services be restarted and support social care services.
Work underway at the Principality Stadium
Last month, the first patients were admitted to Ysbyty Calon y Ddraig at the Principality Stadium, in Cardiff.
Beds in the new hospital
There are 1,500 beds at the Ysbyty Calon y Ddraig, making it one of the largest field hospitals in the UK.
In addition to the hospitals themselves, 138,000 pieces of equipment have been provided to help support field hospitals, including beds, imaging equipment, syringe drivers and medicines.
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