Work begins on £545m new Queen Elizabeth Hospital

Construction has begun on the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Edgbaston, a £545 million project that will replace the existing Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Selly Oak Hospital with one of the largest single-site hospitals in the country.

Work started in June. The hospital has been designed by BDP Architects and is being built by Balfour Beatty.

A major new hospital

The new hospital is being built very close to the University of Birmingham, alongside the existing Queen Elizabeth Hospital. When complete it will provide a full range of services, including local hospital care as well as regional and national specialist services.

The hospital trust is already known for its specialist work, including organ transplantation and cancer care, and the new building is intended to bring services from two ageing sites together in modern facilities.

A long road to construction

Proposals for the new hospital were first unveiled in 1998. The outline design was published in January 2004 and approved by Birmingham City Council in October 2004, paving the way for construction to begin.

Built on a long history

Birmingham's hospitals have deep roots. A series of charitable hospitals opened in the town during the 19th century, from the Orthopaedic Hospital in 1817 to the Birmingham and Midland Skin and Lock Hospital in 1881.

One of them, Queen's Hospital, was founded in 1840 by a young local surgeon, William Sands Cox, mainly for the clinical training of medical students. In 1884 these institutions, including Cox's medical school, united as part of Mason College, which later became the University of Birmingham.

The existing Queen Elizabeth Hospital is named after Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, consort of King George VI. When it was built, it was paid for largely by donations, which exceeded its final cost.

What it means for patients

For patients across Birmingham, the new hospital promises modern wards and facilities in place of buildings that have served the city for decades. Bringing services together on one site is also intended to make specialist care easier to organise.

The new hospital will also be home to military medical care for service personnel injured in conflict zones, continuing a role already carried out by the trust's hospitals.

The construction programme is expected to take several years. In the meantime, the existing Queen Elizabeth and Selly Oak hospitals will continue to operate.

The existing hospital cost £1,029,057 to build, which was £129,406 less than the money raised by donations to pay for it.