'I just want to go home' - stories from a reopened step-down ward
The new Queen Elizabeth Hospital was built in 2010 because the old structure would have been too expensive to refurbish.
But cases of delayed discharges - people whose medical treatment is finished but can't go home until expensive care packages are arranged - have doubled in the last year.
So now wards in the old building have been reopened to house patients who don't require the hi-tech facilities of the brand new hospital.
"There is no alternative at the moment," says Dame Julie Moore, the hospital's Trust chief executive.
"It is getting harder to discharge patients," continues Moore.
"Since July last year and now we've seen a 100% increase in patients waiting to get social care - that's care in the community or perhaps nursing or residential home care - and they're waiting in our beds until that care becomes available."
Bob
Bob Howes, 76, has diabetes and last week had to have his right leg amputated below the knee.
His surgery took place in the new building but is now being cared for in the step-down ward in the old building.
"There's nothing happening here. Up there, there's lots of people," he says.
Widower Bob lives alone and at the moment Bob isn't sure where he'll go when he leaves the unit.
"My brother wants me to go into a flat or a bungalow. My wheelchair won't go through the door at home so that's why they're saying I can't go back."
He's waiting for his leg to heal well enough to have a prosthetic limb fitted.
"I want to walk home," he says.
Deborah
Deborah Williamson, 49, had a liver transplant over in the new building at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham in May this year.
For her aftercare, she was moved to the old building where she can be in regular contact with medical staff and physiotherapists.
"I have to be honest, when I first came down it's a bit of a culture shock. You're spoilt once you've been up there."
"But I can see why they suggested for me to come here. Just having the TV in your room [as in the new building] you're just pottering around your bed, whereas now I have to go into the TV room.
"So you're improving your mobility. It forces you to be more outgoing."
Doctors say she could be ready to go home in around a week.
"I'm most looking forward to seeing my daughter. She's 14. I just missed her so much," says Deborah. "And the privacy, and the independence."
Tony
Tony Hudson, 77, has a range of conditions that means he needs constant attention.
He is recovering from a quadruple heart bypass, needs regular kidney dialysis and has vasculitis, a disease that inflames his veins and severely weakens his immune system.
As well as four care visits a day, he would need a stairlift installed before he can return to his three-bedroom home.
"I've been in about five weeks now. I'd just like to get home," says Tony.
He was an electrician for more than thirty years and worked on conferences and sports events around the country.
"I miss travelling and holidays the most," he says.