The Queen opens the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on her Jubilee visit

The Queen has officially opened the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Edgbaston during a Diamond Jubilee visit to Birmingham on 12 July.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh arrived at Snow Hill station and were greeted by crowds as they made their way to the Council House in Victoria Square, where they signed the visitors' books and were entertained by dancers, a band and a display of table tennis.

A new hospital

From Victoria Square, the royal couple travelled to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where the Queen formally opened the new building. The £545 million hospital replaces the old Queen Elizabeth and Selly Oak hospitals, bringing their services together on one site in Edgbaston.

Work on the hospital began in 2006, and patients began moving into it in 2010. It is one of the largest single-site hospitals in the country.

Caring for the armed forces

The hospital is home to the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, which treats military personnel injured on operations. Soldiers wounded in Afghanistan are flown to Birmingham for treatment, and the hospital's expertise in trauma care has been widely praised.

It is also one of the country's leading centres for transplants, cancer treatment and burns, and patients are referred to it from across the country.

The Diamond Jubilee

The visit was part of the Queen's tour of the country to mark 60 years on the throne. Her Diamond Jubilee has been celebrated with events across the country this year, including a weekend of celebrations in June with a river pageant on the Thames and a concert at Buckingham Palace.

Later in the day, the Queen and the Duke travelled on to RAF Cosford in Shropshire for a special pageant.

Schoolchildren and crowds

Crowds gathered in Victoria Square to see the royal couple, and the Queen greeted schoolchildren who had come to see her. Many people had waited for hours to get a good view.

A royal history

The Queen has visited Birmingham many times during her reign. The original Queen Elizabeth Hospital was named after her mother, Queen Elizabeth, the wife of King George VI, and was opened in 1938.

Olympic summer

The visit comes at the start of a busy summer for the city. Athletes from several countries, including the Jamaican team, are using training camps in the city before the London Olympics, which begin later this month.

For staff at the hospital, the royal opening was a chance to celebrate a building that has already treated thousands of patients since it opened, and which has become one of the most important hospitals in the country.