£370 million Smethwick super hospital named

The £370 million new super hospital in Smethwick is to be named The Midland Metropolitan Hospital.

The announcement was made at a meeting of the Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust board today.

Black Sabbath frontman, Birmingham born Ozzy Osbourne had publicly backed The Midland Metropolitan Hospital name.

He thought the title would "stand out" and said he could see people referring to it as "The Met".

A total of 680 potential names were sent to Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust after it appealed for ideas.

These were whittled down to a final four.

The shortlist also included Birmingham and Black Country Hospital, James Brindley Hospital and Grove Lane Hospital.

A total of 952 people voted for their favourite name before the October 6 deadline.

An outline business case for the hospital at Grove Lane was approved by the NHS West Midlands Health Authority Board earlier this month.

The scaled down plans will see 255 fewer beds than was originally planned.

The hospital, due to open in 2016 is now expected to include 666 hospital beds and 129 community ones, a total of 795.

The new hospital, which will replace Sandwell Hospital in West Bromwich and City Hospital on the Smethwick and Birmingham border, has already seen its costs slashed from £484million to £370million.