Visit to Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust

This week Daniel Elkeles visited the new Midland Metropolitan University Hospital, an impressive development which sits on the border of Birmingham and the Black Country and part of Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust.

Daniel said: "'More than a hospital’ is the strapline for the highly impressive new Midland Metropolitan University Hospital. Much of the focus so far has been about the stunning building and the extraordinary commitment to local regeneration – from environmental improvements, to strengthening recruitment, training and sustainable transport.

"But for me the standout was using the impetus of a new hospital to radically re-think the clinical service model."

The new hospital, designed with 100 fewer acute beds than its predecessors, is testament to the trust's ambition for integrated care. The team is already delivering some of the strongest emergency department (ED) and ambulance handover performance in the Midlands as well as a reduction in admissions for older patients.

The trust has achieved this by focusing on the frailty pathway, including:

🔵 Enhanced frailty team in the ED and inpatient wards.
🔵 Community services investment by repurposing intermediate care beds.
🔵 A fully integrated ‘hospital-community-social care hub’, handling urgent GP referrals.
🔵 Robust hospital operational management processes to keep length of stay to a minimum.
🔵 A virtual ward with clear and agreed referral processes across the Black Country.

Daniel said: "Thank you to the team for the warm welcome, it was a real pleasure to visit a hospital in the middle of a weekday afternoon and to see an ED with no patients in ‘temporary escalation spaces."