900 days reached in countdown to new hospital

6th May 2016

Significant progress has been made on the Grove Lane site in Smethwick towards constructing the new super hospital that concentrates specialist and emergency services onto a single site. The new hospital is being built by Carillion and there are already 200 people working on the site with plans for at least 100 apprentices to work there over the next 900 days.

The hospital brings together emergency care, maternity care and acute inpatient beds. Surgery for people who need to stay in hospital for longer than 24 hours will also take place at the site.  It brings together expertise into one place to deliver even better outcomes.

Midland Met will house 670 inpatient beds, with around 150 intermediate care and community beds provided at Rowley Regis Hospital, Sandwell Hospital and on the City Hospital site.  The programme relies on efforts in primary care to make sure that demand does not rise, and efforts by the Trust and partners’ staff to ensure that long term care and care for people with long term conditions well managed where possible at home.

Talking about the numbers of beds in the new hospital, Toby Lewis, Chief Executive said: “Midland Met remains the closest A&E to the centre of the city of Birmingham and the impact on neighbouring hospitals in the city should be minimal.  Of course, mindful of the mixed local experience of opening new hospitals in the city, we have a back-up bed plan in place which enables us to open up around 100 additional beds if collective efforts to address demand have not succeeded in full by 2018.  We are working closely with colleagues at Walsall to support the expected material impact on their A&E, although of course 35,000 people will get urgent care through the new Urgent Care Centre at Sandwell.”

Read more about the new hospital here

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