THE transfer of the first patients to the new Worcestershire Royal Hospital this weekend will mark another major step forward in the work done by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust to provide a comprehensive, cohesive and accessible healthcare service for the county. Gerry Barnett has been looking at what the new hospital has to offer...

THE £95 million hospital will offer a modern, high-quality environment, incorporating nine operating theatres, a large accident and emergency department and critical care unit, and specialist radiology and scanning facilities in 38,000 square metres of space.

It provides around 550 beds, including those in the refurbished blocks at Aconbury East and West, part of the Newtown site which forms an integral part of the new complex.

Doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals have all had significant input into the design of the new hospital which will deliver services previously scattered between three separate sites and replace buildings dating back to the 18th century.

Now, said Trust chief executive Ruth Harrison: "The people of Worcestershire have hospitals they can be proud of. There are very few completely new hospital developments in Britain. This one puts Worcestershire at the forefront of health care provision. It is a wonderful facility that will serve the whole of the county and provide a fantastic working environment for our staff."

Worcestershire Royal Hospital will provide a light, airy environment, which breaks away from the traditional hospital layout of long narrow buildings that often meant lengthy trips between departments. It will benefit from sophisticated equipment including a magnetic resonance imaging scanner, CT scanner and picture archiving and communications system, the new digital system which is replacing film-based X-ray.

The operating theatres include four laminar flow theatres in which the patient and operating staff are in a constant flow of ultra-filtered air, ideal for procedures such as hip and knee replacements.

Rooms in the new hospital have a maximum of four beds, with a high proportion of single or two-bed rooms, all with en-suite facilities, providing a further improvement in patient privacy.

The rooms are grouped together in "wards" of up to 72 beds which are managed by a "modern matron," heading up a nursing team, ensuring high standards of care and cleanliness, and working with the new Patients' Advocacy and Liaison Service to help resolve patients' problems. Route-finding round the hospital is aided by each floor having its own theme - River, Meadow, Woodland and Sky, with lighting, colour schemes and signs combining to create a relaxing atmosphere easy to navigate.

A-state-of-the-art communication system at every bed means patients can keep in touch by phone, watch television or listen to radio. Elsewhere patients with special needs are catered for with dropped kerbs, tactile paving, reduced height counters at reception and induction loops.

Benefits for staff include the new River Court restaurant, extra parking spaces and a creche due to open in the autumn.

The complex also includes the Charles Hastings Education Centre, an innovative £4million development which houses a 170-seat lecture theatre, smaller teaching rooms, a practical skills suite and a library with extensive printed and on-line resources.

It will also be the home of a Museum of Medicine and Health Care.