Long-delayed Midland Metropolitan Hospital to finally open on this date
Health trust bosses say they have now set a date for the much-delayed Midland Metropolitan University Hospital to finally open.
The £650 million site in Smethwick will now open on the 6th October. The original target opening date was back in 2018.
The date was given the go-ahead from the Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust that runs it.
What will be there ?
It will provide emergency, maternity, children’s, and adult acute inpatient services for a population of more than half a million people, and will bring together all acute and emergency care services currently situated across City Hospital and Sandwell Hospital.
An Urgent Treatment Centre known as a UTC (which provides medical help when it's not a life-threatening emergency) will run on-site alongside those currently at Sandwell Hospital and at the Summerfield Primary Care Centre.
The centre will give diagnosis and treatment for ailments including sprains, strains, suspected broken bones and stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhoea.
A new £18 million learning campus will also open there in 2025, offering further and higher education courses, apprenticeship opportunities and jobs at the new hospital.
“This is truly a key moment"
Speaking following the meeting Trust Chairman Sir David Nicholson said:
“This is truly a key moment for our patients, people, and population as we know that this winter, we will be delivering emergency care in an environment which exceeds expectations and delivers benefits in wellbeing both for patients and our staff.
“Our board carefully considered extensive information about all aspects of the programme to deliver the new hospital safely.
"We are assured of the clinical safety, patient, and staff experience case for opening and transferring patients.
“These key milestones mark the final steps in our journey towards opening the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital which is poised to become the centre of acute and emergency care at our Trust.”
The timeline of delays:
2018: The collapse of the original contractor, Wolverhampton-based construction giant Carillion, plunged construction into crisis
2020: No fresh work was done on the hospital until two years later, just before the pandemic
2021: Bosses said there is “further work to do” with contractor Balfour Beatty, who rescued the project after Carillion's collapse
2023: Officials at the Sandwell Trust said they would now work to "confirm a firm 2023 opening date that our patients, staff and partner organisations can have confidence in," meaning building work would finish five years behind the original target date
The government announced a £350 million fund in 2019 to finish the construction work.
Sajid Javid, then the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said at the time:
"It is absolutely right that the Midland Metropolitan hospital is completed so that doctors and nurses working for our NHS across the West Midlands can deliver excellent care in brand new, state-of-the-art facilities.
"The new Midland Metropolitan hospital will bring together urgent care services from three hospitals across the region into one state-of-the-art site, promoting better patient safety and care while ensuring value for taxpayer's money".
A multi-million pound legal fight began in 2022 over what happened to the Midland Metropolitan Hospital and other projects when the builder, Carillion, went bust.
Now staff and hospital teams have a matter of weeks to finalise any last-minute plans before the big and much-awaited opening.
Richard Beeken, the Trust Chief Executive said “For many people this has been a long time coming so this is a significant milestone in our determination to continue to improve the life chances and health outcomes of our population.”
"A momentous moment"
Lindsay McGibbon, Managing Director of Balfour Beatty’s Regional Buildings business said:
“This is a momentous moment for everyone at Balfour Beatty and the Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust.
“Achieving this milestone was only made possible thanks to years of hard work and dedication from our people, who deserve a special mention for safely and successfully delivering this long-awaited, transformative hospital which will deliver significant benefits for the local community for years to come.”