A distinctive bronze sculpture based on the Good Samaritan parable has found a permanent new home at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB) after more than half a century.

The Compassion statue, which depicts one man aiding another, had been a familiar feature for patients, staff and visitors to Selly Oak Hospital since it was erected outside the main outpatients department in 1963.

Following the transfer of outpatient services to the new QEHB in Edgbaston, the sculpture was carefully loaded by crane onto a truck in April before being taken away for restoration.

The statue was created by sculptor Uli Nimptsch after a commission in 1961 by The Charles Henry Foyle Trust, who donated it to Selly Oak Hospital. The Foyle Trust provided benches for the public and maintained the statue until the hospital’s clinical services moved in 2010. They subsequently made a donation for the cost of relocating the statue to its new location.

It has now been restored and given a new home alongside the pedestrian walkway between QEHB and University rail station.

Graham Hackett, Estates and Design Manager at University Hospitals Birmingham, which runs QEHB, said: “The Compassion statue holds a lot of affection for people who worked at Selly Oak, visitors and the wider community, so we have effectively moved a large slice of Selly Oak to the new hospital site.”

The sculpture was taken to a firm of conservation specialists to be restored.

Mr Hackett added: “There were quite a number of chips which needed repairing, and the statue was also set on bronze dowels set into the plinth which had cracked and needed fixing. But the main restoration work consisted of cleaning and waxing.”

As well as planning permission, UHB also needed to obtain consent from English Heritage to relocate the sculpture as the site is located within the Metchley Roman fort site, which is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.