The original Queen Elizabeth Hospital will be officially renamed the Heritage Building (Queen Elizabeth Hospital) in July 2015.

The change has been made to coincide with the opening of the Institute of Translational Medicine (ITM), a new research facility which has been developed within the same building.

The ‘Heritage’ name was chosen following consultation with staff at a series of forums. It reflects the history, pride and affection in which the QE is held while acknowledging that the hospital is still very much open for business and delivering the best in care.

Dame Julie Moore, Trust Chief Executive said: “When the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham opened in 2010, the original QE hospital was referred to as the ‘old’ hospital.

“The intention then was that all our patients would be treated within the new hospital. However, as numbers have increased we have coped by refurbishing areas of the original hospital to make sure we don’t have to turn anyone away or cancel so many operations because of capacity.

“We want to ensure that all patients, their families and potential patients feel that they are being treated on a par with those in QEHB.

“By changing the name of the QEH and moving away from the ‘old’ association, we aim to send a message that everyone will receive the best in care, whatever building they come to.”

Over the past two years the Trust has opened an extra 170 beds in the original Queen Elizabeth Hospital, as well as a second Ambulatory Care facility and two theatres, to ensure capacity for the increase in the number of patients wishing to be treated at the hospitals.

The Trust will for the first time, during 2015/16, see more than one million patients through its doors within a 12-month period.

When the new hospital opened in 2010 the 12-month figure was 630,000.

In the past financial year that had grown to 994,000-plus, with increased admissions and attendances through the Emergency Department and increased capacity throughout the hospital.

From mid-July 2015, staff, patients and visitors accessing the wards, departments and clinics in the Heritage Building should use the new Main Entrance on Mindelsohn Way. They can also use the West Entrance by WH Smith.

When the new Main Entrance is open, the Cancer Centre, which has been used for access throughout construction work for the ITM, should no longer be used as a cut-through route, only for oncology patients.

The ITM will have its own entrance further down Mindelsohn Way.

New signs are being put up and a map of the site, showing entrances, can be found on the back page of news@QEHB and on the maps section of the website.

The new address for the original QE is:

Heritage Building (Queen Elizabeth Hospital)
Mindelsohn Way
Edgbaston
Birmingham, B15 2TH

Which entrance should I use?

Heritage Building: Main Entrance

All wards, clinics and departments accessed off the main hospital corridor:

• Pharmacy
• Centre for Rare Diseases (clinics due to open September 2015)
• West 1 and West 2
• ITM Clinical Research Facility
• Discharge Lounge

Heritage Building: West Entrance

• As above

Heritage Building: East Block Day Unit

• East Block Day Unit
• Discharge Lounge

ITM entrance

• ITM staff and visitors only