New £545m Queen Elizabeth Hospital opens

The new £545 million Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Edgbaston has begun treating patients, as services move in from the old Queen Elizabeth and Selly Oak hospitals.

The hospital opened on 16 June, and services from Selly Oak Hospital are moving in during this week. Services from the old Queen Elizabeth Hospital will move in over the coming months.

One of the largest hospitals in the country

The new hospital, with more than 1,200 beds, is one of the largest single-site hospitals in the UK. It brings the services of two hospitals together in one modern building, with the same capacity as the two combined.

It will be home to one of the largest organ transplant programmes in Europe, and is a national specialist centre for liver, heart and lung transplants and cancer care. Its critical care unit, with 100 beds on a single floor, is one of the largest in the world.

Caring for the armed forces

The hospital is also home to the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, which treats military personnel injured in conflict zones. Soldiers wounded in Afghanistan have been treated at Selly Oak Hospital in recent years, and that care now moves to the new building.

A long time coming

Proposals for the new hospital were unveiled in 1998, and the design was approved by the city council in 2004. Building work began in 2006. It is the first acute hospital to be built in Birmingham since 1937.

It is named the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, rather than Birmingham Queen Elizabeth Hospital as originally planned, because no word may come before a royal title.

Part of a wider plan

The hospital is part of a £1 billion plan to regenerate Selly Oak and Bournbrook, which also includes a new relief road for Selly Oak and new shops. It sits beside the University of Birmingham, one of the leading medical schools in the country, and the two work closely together on research and training.

Moving patients safely

Moving patients and services from two hospitals into a new building is a huge operation, and has been planned for months. Patients are being moved in stages, and staff have been trained on the new building's systems. People due to attend appointments are being told where to go.

The old Selly Oak Hospital, which began life as a Victorian workhouse infirmary, will close once services have moved out.

A building for the future

The new hospital has single rooms for many patients, which helps to control infections and gives more privacy and dignity. The trust says the building has been designed to give patients a better experience and to allow staff to work more efficiently.

For the thousands of staff who have worked in the old buildings for years, the move is the start of a new chapter, and for patients from Birmingham and far beyond, the new hospital promises some of the most advanced care in the country.