The new hospital has been designed by BDP and built by a joint venture of UK-based Balfour Beatty Construction and Haden Young as a PFI project. The project involved development of a new Queen Elizabeth Psychiatric Hospital for Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust, which opened in 2008.
The hospital comprises three elliptical bedroom towers, which have been built over a high tech medical treatment podium. The innovative design of the new hospital enables it to soften the scale of the hospital, while at the same times allows people to enjoy the views over Birmingham.
The new hospital is designed specifically around the needs of patients and visitors, making coming to hospital easier and more pleasant. Dedicated patient and visitor lifts are featured, with other lifts available for staff and the moving of goods. The new design also improves ability to prevent infection, as it provides flexibility to protect or isolate patients. Wards have clinical hand wash stations at their entrances to highlight the need to wash hands before entering and leaving.
Of the 1,213 inpatient beds in the new hospital, 44% are in single rooms and the rest in four-bed, single-sex rooms with en suite facilities. There are 30 theatres, including 23 inpatient theatres and seven day case theatres identified as emergency, ambulatory and elective.
The hospital was formerly referred to as University Hospital Birmingham, which has been renamed as Queen Elizabeth NHS hospital to honor The Queen. The Trust worked with partner Consort Healthcare, which is made up of Balfour Beatty, the Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC.
The lead contractor was Balfour Beatty Construction and each stage of the project so far has been delivered on time and on budget.
