The new £430million Brunel building at Southmead Hospital Bristol is fully open from today (Wednesday, May 28).
All teams, services and patients are now in place.
During the course of the move from the old premises at Southmead and Frenchay a total of 540 patients were safely transferred and settled into the new hospital, including a number of critically ill patients from the intensive care units at both sites.
The Accident and Emergency Department successfully moved overnight on May 19th and was immediately operational from 2am. It has been extremely busy since opening and our regional trauma service has treated 15 major trauma cases in the last week, seven transferred in from other hospitals.
Andrea Young, Chief Executive of North Bristol NHS Trust, said: “The last few weeks and months have been an unprecedented time for everyone and I would like to pay tribute to our amazing staff and volunteers who have worked the extra mile to ensure this move has been the success that it has.
“Feedback from patients and staff has been positive with many enjoying the benefits of working and being cared for in a building designed to provide the best possible experience for our patients. The biggest response from patients has been the benefits of being able to close the door, to rest and sleep well in their single rooms.
“I would also like to thank colleagues from the ambulance service and the military that provided brilliant support in helping us get patients safely moved into the building.
“As people will know we have had some teething problems around getting our theatres up to the exceptional standard that we want which has resulted in us rescheduling a number of planned operations. All emergency and urgent work did go ahead, along with some routine operations and we are now getting back on track in terms of theatre capacity. I’d like to offer sincere apologies to those affected and assure them that their operation will be rebooked as quickly as possible.
“The Brunel building gives us our greatest opportunity to truly fulfil our potential to provide exceptional healthcare, personally delivered. Almost all of our staff from the old Southmead and Frenchay hospitals have moved across so the clinical expertise that has been developed at both sites over the years will continue and indeed flourish in their new surroun/newhospitaldings.”
The Brunel building is at the heart of the Southmead Hospital Bristol site and is supported by existing clinical services including maternity, pathology and breast care – which will soon be based in the refurbished Beaufort House alongside a Macmillan Wellbeing Centre.
The new hospital dramatically improves privacy and dignity for patients with 75 percent of beds in single rooms with their own en-suite facilities and a clinical corridor which means they do not have to be taken past members of the public before or after their operations.