The Health Secretary also announced that the new hospital, which has been known as the Specialist and Critical Care Centre (SCCC), would be known as ‘The Grange University Hospital’.

The new hospital will deal with all major emergencies, and will treat and care for those needing complex emergency or critical care. It will be home to more than 40 specialist services, and will have a helicopter pad for patients who need to arrive by air ambulance.

Gleeds is providing cost and project management services and will work in partnership with engineering enterprise, Laing O’Rourke, to deliver this state-of-the-art project, which will see six hundred people employed during construction.

Director for Gleeds in Wales, Simon Williams, said: “Having worked with Aneurin Bevan University Health Board since 2007 through the development of the business case process for Welsh Government approval, it’s exciting to have reached this significant milestone. Not only will the hospital provide specialist care for the people of Gwent, but it will set a benchmark for new build healthcare projects in Wales.”

The Grange University Hospital forms a key part of the Health Board’s wider Clinical Futures Strategy, launched in 2004, to modernise health services in Gwent and will create a highly specialised environment to support the treatment of patients who need complex and acute emergency care. The hospital will also have a key regional role, working as part of the wider major acute hospital system across south Wales.

Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport, Vaughan Gething, said: “I am pleased to announce that the hospital will be known as The Grange University Hospital, and it will bring together complex and more acute services onto one site. This will improve the quality of care for the very sickest patients.”

Welsh Government funding for the new 471-bed hospital was confirmed in October 2016 and Aneurin Bevan University Health Board expect its doors to open to patients in the Spring of 2021.

Judith Paget, Chief Executive of Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, said: “The Grange University Hospital is a major part of our Clinical Futures Strategy and everybody associated with the Health Board is extremely excited that work has now started on this state-of-the-art facility. It will help us to create a much improved care environment, timely access to emergency care, and ensure patients get the best outcomes from their care.

 “I would like to thank our staff for their hard work in getting us to this point and we will continue to work closely with our staff, our local communities, and with Gleeds and Laing O’Rourke to ensure this new hospital is one we can all be proud of.”