Three new operating theatres could be installed at a Swansea hospital to help deal with "unacceptable" waiting times for planned surgery.
The "modular" theatres proposed at Singleton Hospital, Sketty, would be leased and then decommissioned or re-allocated, depending on demand.
Installing and equipping them is expected to cost just under £4.5 million.
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Waiting times for planned - or elective - surgery have been a persistent issue for health boards, and Covid only compounded the situation.
Swansea Bay University Health Board has been moving more of its elective surgery capacity from Morriston Hospital to Singleton, and the modular theatres proposed would increase capacity further.
Speaking at a meeting, chief executive Mark Hackett said the move away from Morriston - the region's acute hospital site - was finally enabling the health board to stop the growth in waiting lists in some speciality areas.
"We are not able to get through the work we need at Morriston Hospital at the moment because of bed availability," he said.
A report before the board said the total waiting list across planned care, diagnostics and theatre operations in Swansea Bay increased from 54,000 at the start of the pandemic in March 2020 to 86,000 at its peak. The situation, it said, was unacceptable.
Board members noted a series of recommendations and approved the modular theatre proposal, subject to a detailed business case coming back in April.
The report added that the creation of a post-anaesthetic care unit at Singleton would increase the range of cases which could be dealt with.
Another recommendation to maximise theatre efficiency was to operate on patients on Saturdays.
Independent board member Reena Owen said: "It's essential that we use our current theatres as efficiently as we can."
Last September the health board moved forward with plans for four modular operating theatres at Neath Port Talbot Hospital for procedures including knee and hip replacements. The best-case scenario at the time was that they could be functioning in April this year.
Some planned operations where patients need specialist support, such as intensive care, will continue to be carried out at Morriston Hospital.
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