Dragon's Heart Hospital ( cy, Ysbyty Calon y Ddraig) was a temporary hospital located at the Millennium Stadium in

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 ...

. It opened on 13 April 2020 to help deal with the impact of the

COVID-19 pandemic in Wales The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Wales on 28 February 2020, with a case being reported in the Swansea area; this first known case was a person who had recently returned from Italy. The first known case of community transm ...

. It was decommissioned towards the end of October and early November 2020. It was the third of the COVID-19 hospitals set up in the United Kingdom, and the first in Wales. It had 300 beds, with space to expand to up to 2,000, which would make it the largest hospital in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, and the second largest in the

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Background

Chief Executive of Cardiff and Vale UHB Len Richards confirmed that the health board had carried out modelling and predictions of patient number scenarios, aided by research from Imperial College, London. As a result of that research, they felt it necessary to expand capacity in the Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan area through a large field hospital. The Millennium Stadium was established as an early candidate for the field hospital as the UK's fourth largest stadium and the largest in Wales, and the site was designed and made operational in under two weeks in March. The project required 5,000 planning hours, 650 contractors and 30 members of the armed forces. The project involved £8m in capital spending from

Welsh Government , image = , caption = , date_established = , country = Wales , address = , leader_title = First Minister () , appointed = First Minister approved by the Senedd, ceremonially appointed ...

, and involvement from

Cardiff Council Cardiff Council, formally the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Cyngor Sir Dinas a Sir Caerdydd) is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. The principal area and its council were established ...

, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), the Millennium Stadium, and

NHS Wales NHS Wales ( cy, GIG (Gwasanaeth Iechyd Gwladol) Cymru) is the publicly-funded healthcare system in Wales, and one of the four systems which make up the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. NHS Wales was formed as part of the public ...

. However it has been stated that where capacity is available, the facility will be open to patients from other health boards across Wales.

Details

The first 330-bed spaces were completed on 11 April, and handed over by the Main Contractor, ES Global Ltd, to the client, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. It opened for service on 13 April 2020. Facilities available include mobile X-ray and CT scanners, and the stadium has opened both the playing surface and directors boxes for use as treatment space. The home and away dressing rooms were repurposed to serve as office spaces. A police cell in the under-course of the stadium had also been made available.

Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park ( cy, Parc yr Arfau Caerdydd), also known as The Arms Park, is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British ...

was being utilised as part of the Dragon's Heart Hospital and had seen flooring laid upon the artificial turf. The site had end-of-life pathway care for those facing a critical prognosis. NHS Wales chief executive Dr Andrew Goodall stated that the hospital, combined with other regional field hospitals in Wales, would serve to double the service's bed capacity and increase the number by around 6,000. The primary focus was on patients coming to the end of their illness and those recovering to return home, allowing more capacity to become available within intensive care wards elsewhere for critical patients. However, there would also be patients on palliative care plans located at the site. The WRU worked with the Vale Resort in Hensol to make a further 255 patient space available at its training ground site in the Vale of Glamorgan, to open on 27 April. That site included eight wards and food supplied from the adjacent hotel. The Hensol Castle Distillery provided hand sanitiser on that site.

Naming

The hospital was named following a public consultation, with the eventual name chosen by staff and the public from 2,000 responses. It was formally opened on 20 April by

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

, via a pre-recorded video message.

Resources

WalesOnline report that once operational, the hospital would provide 20,000 porter visits daily to different parts of the hospital, producing three-and-a-half tons of clinical waste, and consume hundreds of thousands of litres of oxygen. In July 2020, the hospital Board report assessed costs at £67.830M (including compensation costs for the WRU and Cardiff Blues of £1.687M) with a further £2.822M capital costs. Decommissioning including reinstatement of the stadium would take 4 months and cost £9.730M.

Staffing

It was intended that around 2,500 staff would be employed when the site was at full capacity, to include 100 doctors, 500 nurses, radiographers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, volunteers, porters, catering staff, health care assistants and those returning from retirement to the profession. Wales rugby international

Jamie Roberts Jamie Huw Roberts (born 8 November 1986) is a former Wales, Welsh rugby union player, who most recently played for the New South Wales Waratahs, Waratahs. His usual position is Rugby union positions#Centre, centre. Beginning in 2005, Roberts ...

, a qualified doctor, was involved in the opening.

Operation

The first patient was admitted to the hospital on 28 April 2020. The hospital had 46 patients at its busiest, but by 4 June, it had no remaining patients and on 8 June Cardiff and Vale University Health Board announced that it would be "put on standby". Although most staff were redeployed elsewhere, the Health Board indicated that the Principality Stadium would remain out of use for sport indefinitely.

Closure

In September it was reported that the hospital was to be replaced by a smaller facility nearby, next to the

University Hospital of Wales University Hospital of Wales ( cy, Ysbyty Athrofaol Cymru) (UHW), also known as the Heath Hospital, is a major 1,000-bed hospital in the Heath district of Cardiff, Wales. UHW is a teaching hospital of Cardiff University School of Medicine. Constr ...

, Cardiff. In November 2020, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board (UHB) formally left Dragon’s Heart Hospital. Recommissioning the stadium for sporting use began the same month.Cardiff Blues: Arms Park pitch to be ready in early 2021
13 November 2020 ''www.bbc.co.uk'', accessed 23 June 2021

References

{{authority control NHS COVID-19 critical care hospitals 2020 in Wales NHS hospitals in Wales 2020s in Cardiff