A new chapter begins at Royal Papworth Hospital
Construction work on the new Royal Papworth hospital on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus is complete.
The process of moving clinical services from the hospital’s current site in Papworth Everard will begin on Tuesday, April 23 - and will take place over a period of three weeks.
“We’re really excited,” chief executive Stephen Posey told Cambridge Independent. “We’re really looking forward to moving in. This is the culmination of so much work by our staff. They’ve been working incredibly hard at the existing hospital and they’ve been planning the move into this wonderful facility.
“I’m very proud of the staff and really pleased with the new facility and the finish. We’re looking forward now to our first patients here and having them experience the new environment.”
The new hospital has 2,300 rooms, five operating theatres, five catheter laboratories and two hybrid theatres.
It has around 300 beds, including a 46-bed critical care unit and 24 day beds. Most of the rooms are individual with en-suites.
Each room has a television, with up to 100 TV and radio channels available for free. The hospital also has free wi-fi throughout.
“I think there will also be some trepidations. It’s a little bit like moving house and we’ve got 2,000 rooms to move into here,” smiled Mr Posey.
He continued: “What’s surprising me is just how calm staff are now. They’re looking forward to getting in to the new building and they’re taking confidence from the training that they have had and they’ve already had lots of events in the new hospital where they run through clinical scenarios.
“For patients in Cambridgeshire and beyond they can expect the same really great care that Royal Papworth is famous for delivering in a much better environment. I think they can expect from us to be accelerating new treatments and working with our colleagues to make sure that we can deliver even better care.”
The new location will mean better partnership working with Cambridge University Hospitals and other pharma and medtech companies on the campus to develop the “treatments and devices of the future”.
Mr Posey said: “That’s something that this location will deliver for us. Papworth received its royal status because we’re innovative and pioneering in the way that we deliver healthcare. “This new building, this new facility and new location will come together and mean that we can really accelerate that going forward.
“We deliver world-class outcomes on our current site despite the facilities and now our patients will have the environment and facilities that they absolutely deserve and we know that this new location means we can do those things much faster and get benefits for patients that much quicker.
“There is now a feeling of just wanting to get in. It’s been a long time in the planning and we obviously had the disappointment of the delay and staying on our old site for another winter.
“With the new facility there’s now a hunger to be in and delivering great care in a new environment.”
The move to the new site has also created a number of job opportunities for which details can be found online at: royalpapworth.nhs.uk.
