St David's Hospital ( cy, Ysbyty Dewi Sant) is a health facility in Canton,

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, Wales. It is managed by the

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board Cardiff and Vale University Health Board (CAVUHB) ( cy, Bwrdd Iechyd Prifysgol Caerdydd a'r Fro) is the local health board of NHS Wales for Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan, in the south-east of Wales. Formed on 1 October 2009 through the amalgama ...

. The original main block is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

Original hospital

Cardiff created its own Poor Law Union in 1836 and the new Cardiff Union Workhouse, which was built on Cowbridge Road at a cost of £7,500, opened in 1839. Because of the growing population of the area, in 1862 child inmates were relocated to the Ely Industrial Schools. In 1872 an infirmary for the sick was added to the northwest of the workhouse, with 164 beds. The building was expanded in 1881, including a new entrance building on the Cowbridge Road frontage with a 3-storey tower and clock face. New accommodation included a committee room, waiting rooms and attendants' offices. The architects were James, Seward & Thomas and the exterior design had similarities to Seward's 1883 Cardiff Infirmary, though using cheaper materials. The buildings were further expanded in 1890 and, by 1908, the workhouse had a capacity for over 1,000 inmates. The hospital joined the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

as St David's Hospital in 1948. Notable people born in the maternity unit at St David's Hospital include Wales footballer,

Ryan Giggs Ryan Joseph Giggs (né Wilson; 29 November 1973) is a Welsh association football, football coach and former player. Regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Giggs played his List of one-club men in association football, entir ...

, who was born there in 1973. It closed in the early 1990s and the majority of the old buildings were demolished, leaving the Victorian entrance building and clock tower. This fell into disrepair and was the target of vandalism, but in 2002 it was refurbished and converted into apartments.

Modern hospital

A modern facility, located to the rear of the old hospital, was commissioned under a

Private Finance Initiative The private finance initiative (PFI) was a United Kingdom government procurement policy aimed at creating "public–private partnerships" (PPPs) where private firms are contracted to complete and manage public projects. Initially launched in 199 ...

contract in 1999. The facility, which was designed by HL Design and built by Macob Construction at a cost of £16 million, opened on

Saint David's Day Saint David's Day ( cy, Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant or ; ), or the Feast of Saint David, is the feast day of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales, and falls on 1 March, the date of Saint David's death in 589 AD. The feast has been regularly celebrat ...

2002. Facilities included 100 beds, initially for mental health patients (transferred from

Royal Hamadryad Hospital The Royal Hamadryad Hospital was a seamen's hospital and later a psychiatric hospital in the docklands area of Cardiff, Wales. It had replaced a hospital ship, the former HMS ''Hamadryad'', in 1905. After it closed in 2002 the site was redevel ...

) and the elderly (from Lansdowne Hospital) but also including children's services, therapies and dental services.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint David's Hospital, Cardiff Cardiff and Vale University Health Board NHS hospitals in Wales Grade II listed buildings in Cardiff Hospitals in Cardiff Hospitals established in 1872 2002 establishments in Wales Poor law infirmaries