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Heartbeat: Midland Met – our future built by us

April 23, 2021

In less than 300 days, we’ll be welcoming 2022 – a new year and not just any new year. It’s a year set to boast exciting change for the region, including the Commonwealth Games but perhaps more importantly for us, the opening of our new flagship hospital, Midland Met.

The Midland Met will provide clinical teams with modern purpose-built facilities and be our single-site acute hospital. It will see the consolidation of acute emergency and inpatient services and bring together our two emergency departments to operate as one.

It will also be home to several new facilities, including two trauma theatres, two emergency theatres, two maternity theatres and 15 delivery suites. Our new hospital will offer a new level of care in many respects. For example, our design includes 50 per cent single rooms in generic inpatient wards – a major positive in our favour when it comes to infection prevention and control.

One of the main benefits of operating in this way will be that patients will receive excellence in clinical care at all points throughout their care pathways. It is a new way of offering clinical care to our local communities, but it will be so much more than that. Our landmark hospital will bring together specialties, help to regenerate the immediate local area and create jobs. It will also see the launch of our new learning campus, which we have recently secured over £12 million to invest in it. Our organisation has its sights set firmly on building a better future, and we all have a part to play in bringing this vision to life.

Perhaps one of the most highly anticipated areas within our new hospital is our winter garden. It will provide a light, airy focal point for visitors and a space for staff to meet and relax away from their clinical areas.

Not only will our new hospital bring with it new opportunities for the people that work within our Trust and the communities, but it will also help to breathe life into the heart of what was once the industrial West Midlands. Birmingham City Council and Sandwell Council are working with West Midlands Combined Authority, Homes England, the Canal & River Trust and our organisation to regenerate the Smethwick to Birmingham corridor. The new Midland Metropolitan University Hospital provides a major opportunity to revive the area, supporting a healthy community for those who already live here and those who will choose to live, work and visit.

It may only be the beginning of this journey, but our flagship hospital will be integral in these plans and see the Grove Lane area redeveloped. The building of the Midland Met will provide the catalyst for growth in the immediate surrounding areas – that is hugely exciting.

Rachel Barlow, Director of System Transformation, said: “We are entering an exciting phase of the build. Work is starting to pick up pace, and we have over 800 people on site every single day helping to bring our vision to life.”

Rachel added: “There is lots of work going on with colleagues, partners and stakeholder groups in preparation for when we open our doors in 2022. There is a still lot to do, but we have the right people and teams in place to make our move to Midland Met a success.”

So, how is the build progressing? We bring you some of the key highlights to keep you up to date:

  • Our build is progressing well. Some rooms in the ED and ward areas are getting their first coat of paint and, the clinical wash hand basins are being fitted.
  • The electrical, mechanical and plumbing works above the ceilings and within walls are in full flow (no pun intended!).
  • Over 800 people are working on site daily, which indicates the scope of this project.
  • The high voltage power will go on in the next few weeks. Watch this space to find out more!