A vacant office in Swansea Vale could be turned into a factory making cancer medicines for patients across south and west Wales, under plans lodged with Swansea Council.
NHS Wales wants to convert the building at 3 Sandringham Park, in Llansamlet, into a facility producing injectable medicines — many of them for cancer patients.
The plans, submitted by NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership, seek to change the building’s use from offices to a medicines production facility.
The site is a former DVLA call centre, one of a cluster of buildings the agency once occupied at Sandringham Park, and has been standing empty and marketed to let.
The application says the new facility is urgently needed. It warns that patients across south and west Wales currently rely on a single unit in Swansea to prepare injections used in scans.
According to the application, that single unit is causing delay and disruption at 12 major cancer centres and hospitals — and if it failed, the NHS would be unable to scan patients with suspected cancer at all.
The documents describe the project as a very high priority for both the Welsh Government and the health boards and trusts that make up NHS Wales.
The facility would make many thousands of patient doses a year, focusing on injectable medicines with short shelf lives that have to be prepared in clean-room conditions, the application says.
Most would support cancer patients, but the plans say the facility would also produce medicines for a range of other conditions and for patients after surgery.
NHS Wales also says the move would bring work back in-house from commercial suppliers in England, securing skilled jobs in Wales — though the application does not say how many people would be employed.
The building would run around the clock, with the busiest hours between 6am and 6pm on weekdays, and staff working shifts.
Because of the sensitive nature of the work, the facility would need licences from bodies including the medicines regulator, the Health and Safety Executive, the Home Office and counter-terrorism police before it could open.
The plans involve no major changes to the outside of the building, which would be converted internally. Bird and bat boxes are proposed on the walls to provide a wildlife benefit.
The application notes the site sits within a flood zone, but argues the facility should be treated as essential infrastructure given its economic and health importance, and says the internal conversion would not increase flood risk elsewhere.
The proposal lands at a difficult time for the NHS locally, with Swansea Bay health board — a separate body from the applicant — recently announcing plans to cut up to 800 jobs over three years to balance its books.
It also comes as the region’s NHS continues to invest in cancer care, with Swansea Bay services recently honoured at awards dedicated to cancer treatment in Wales.
Swansea Council will decide the application in the coming weeks. Residents can view the plans and comment via the council’s planning portal, under reference 2026/1037/FUL.
