The Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery

Based in Morriston Hospital, Swansea, the Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery provides a service for the people of South, Mid and West Wales. As the only centre in Wales, we are responsible for a population of 2.3 million people. In May 2010, the Welsh Centre for Burns was designated as the Adult Burn Centre for the South West UK Burns Network, covering a population of 10 million. When the centre became the designated centre for adult patients in South Wales and the south west of England, the geographical area covered by us included Aberystwyth in West wales to Portsmouth and Oxford.

Complex burn injured patients from other parts of the UK can be referred to the Welsh Centre for Burns via the National Burns Bed Bureau. In order to meet this, a refurbishment of the Burns Theatre was carried out, along with and a new Burns Dressings/Outpatient Department.

The service treats around 750 burns patients a year, of which half need inpatient treatment. It also treats over 6,500 plastic surgery cases. Approximately half are children. While the team does treat children with quite severe burns, those with more extensive injuries are transferred to the paediatric burn centre in Bristol.

The Welsh Centre moved to Swansea from St. Lawrence Hospital, Chepstow in 1994, and since that time has become well established within Morriston Hospital. The burns service has developed since the transfer and has always been at the forefront in the use of developing technologies for the benefit of burn patients e.g. Integra (artificial skin). The Morriston centre is also home to the specialist plastic surgery service for South Wales, treating patients from Chepstow to Aberystwyth.