The Ministry of Defence has announced plans to build a new military hospital ward for injured service personnel on the grounds of an NHS facility.
The new ward will be part of Birmingham New Hospital, which is due to open in Edgbaston in 2010 and will be home to the largest single-floor critical care unit in the world.
The facility will be a designated trauma and orthopaedics ward where military patients will be cared for in single rooms or four-bedded bays. It will have more staff than a normal NHS ward, a quiet room for relatives and a communal space for patients to gather.
The new hospital will be part of the University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, which manages the city’s Selly Oak Hospital where the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine is based.
Announcing the new ward, under secretary of state for defence Derek Twigg said: “The new hospital will offer outstanding facilities for military patients. Working in partnership with University Hospital, we already provide first-class medical treatment and care for our service patients.
“The military ward in Birmingham’s new hospital further demonstrates our commitment to providing the best possible care for military casualties. We will build on the success of the current ward at Selly Oak as we move to the new hospital at Edgbaston.”
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