Watch: First patients arrive at new Midland Metropolitan Hospital as it finally opens

The 'super hospital', operated by Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, finally welcomed patients and staff on Sunday.

It was a historic moment as ambulance crews moved the first patient from the nearby Sandwell Hospital onto the site just before 7.30am, before settling them into their new room.

By 12pm, ambulance staff had completed more than half of the planned patient transfers for the day from Sandwell Hospital to the Midland Met, a West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesperson said.

Earlier this week, the ambulance service said 300 patients will move from the Sandwell Hospital A&E department on opening day, with 60 maternity patients to move from City Hospital on November 6, and 220 patients, also from City Hospital, to be transferred on November 10.

The new hospital is one of the biggest to open in the UK in 10 years, spanning 16 acres and boasting 736 beds, half of which are set in single en-suite rooms.

It also features an emergency department, a dedicated children's A&E and assessment unit and separate adult and children wards.

The A&E department will replace that of the nearby Sandwell Hospital which will still be open for outpatients, and that of the ageing City Hospital, with part of that site on Dudley Road earmarked for affordable housing.

Plans for the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital go back as far as January 2011, when the Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust was granted a compulsory purchase order to buy the land at Grove Lane, which had previously been used for industrial purposes by GKN.

The original cost was forecast to be £297 million, with £100m provided by HM Treasury, and the remainder privately financed.

Work on the site started in January 2016 but Wolverhampton-based contractors Carillion went into liquidation in January 2018, causing the PFI contract to be terminated. The estimated finishing cost of the project is now closer to £1 billion.

Speaking as the first patients were welcomed on site, chairman of Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, Sir David Nicholson, said: "It takes a village to raise a child and for us, a community to raise this hospital.

"We are so proud of what everyone has done, and today as we treat our first patients in this building, it is testament to what can be achieved when we are all focussed on a single aim.

"...The Midland Met replaces some ageing hospital estate which was exhausting in upkeep and not pleasant for our staff to deliver care in.

"Today this changes as we start to move patients in and close old facilities. I am confident that our patients and staff will appreciate the new environment with a resulting upswing in their wellbeing."

Chief Executive at the health trust, Richard Beeken, added it was "the beginning of a new chapter".

Mr Beeken said: "As the NHS was designed to care for our health needs from the cradle to the grave, this hospital will provide emergency care for our population for many years to come.

"Today we are making history, and as our predecessors opened City hospital over 135 years ago, I cannot help but think they would approve wholeheartedly of what we have done."

Alongside its 11 operating theatres, the hospital features two midwife-led birthing unit maternity wards with 15 delivery rooms.

It also boasts a winter garden and outdoor spaces to help patients stay active, antenatal services, a neonatal unit, same-day emergency care for adults and a sickle cell and Thalassaemia centre to treat blood conditions.

Patients and visitors can meanwhile browse the offerings of a dedicated retail area at the new hospital, featuring high street brands such as Greggs and M&S.