Queen Elizabeth Hospital marks a new era for Birmingham
The first hospital to be built in Birmingham for 70 years has opened its doors. Health Correspondent Alison Dayani witnessed the first few hours of activity at the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
The air is thick with anticipation. A team of excited doctors draw straws over who can treat the first patient while nurses peer out expectantly from windows at a new super hospital yearning to be used.
It is 2am and pristine rows of white bays lie in wait and a white board awaits its first pen mark ahead of the first emergency to christen this long-awaited Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
But 20 minutes tick by, then another and another, without any sign of an ambulance or walking wounded in sight. Only the odd taxi and a few cars pass by to take a peek at this grand new landmark in Edgbaston.
The longer they wait, the more hungry for action the medics grow. Eager-eyed and restless, they appear ready to pounce at the first sound of a siren.
“We would normally have had about four patients in the first hour,” says disappointed A&E consultant Dr Barry Bolland. “This is unusual, but it’s an unusual night.
“The doctors had a lottery for who would get the first patient and the most junior member of the team won. He’s sitting there waiting.”
Finally at 3.25am, the call comes through. A hand injury patient being transferred from Dudley’s Russells Hall Hospital for specialist trauma and orthopaedic treatment.
It may not be the first 999 job, but it’s the first time anyone will receive treatment in this multi-billion pound legacy of Birmingham’s future.
Into this historic night stumbles shy 19-year-old landscaper William Totley, from Coseley.
He fell out of a tree while trying to reach a ball for his nephew, badly cutting his hand and perhaps even tearing the muscle. William didn’t even realise there was a new hospital, let alone expect to become the first ever person to be treated in it.
“I’ve never seen the hospital before or been to Selly Oak,” says William, who is with 21-year-old girlfriend Emma Abbotts. “This is really unexpected. It’s nice here though.”
RAF nurse Sgt Wendy Finbow, part of the nursing team, which is a mix of the military and NHS staff, seems delighted to finally get working on something.
Other nurses hang back and the ‘junior’ doctor looks a little sad when on-call specialist Tarek Boutefnouchet sweeps past, X-rays in hand, to deal with William.
But it’s not long until ‘Junior’ has his chance – 19 minutes later to be exact – when the first ambulance pulls up.
A man in his 40s from Selly Oak is ferried in feeling “unwell and dizzy”. He’s probably the luckiest man in the NHS right now. Never has a patient had so much undivided attention from a whole A&E.
Paramedic Helen Lee, from Stourbridge, and ambulance technician Donna ‘Little Mo’ Boyle, from Bournville, brought him in and are tickled pink to find out it is the first 999 emergency to the super hospital.
