Everything you need to know about the new Royal Liverpool University Hospital

The new Royal Liverpool University Hospital has been officially launched today by The Prince and Princess of Wales, nearly four months after welcoming its first patients.

During the visit, William and Kate visited a ward to see the hospital’s new facilities and met staff – including support staff and mental health first aiders – who’ve been working tirelessly in the new hospital throughout the hectic winter months to thank them for all they had done.

The royal couple also caught up with members of the critical care team His Royal Highness met on a video call in 2020, during the Covid pandemic.

A state-of-the-art hospital, it’s now the biggest in the country, and replaces the decades-old former Royal building to create a ‘healthy, healing environment and a landmark building at the gateway of the city’.

The new Royal is one of 48 schemes within the New Hospital Programme due to be built in England by 2030 and aims to improve care and recovery, and provide a better hospital experience for patients, staff and visitors.

Here’s everything you need to know:

Better care 

The new hospital has 640 beds including 40 critical care beds for patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and High Dependency Unit (HDU). There are 18 standard wards, each with 28 single rooms which have their own en-suite bathroom facilities.

All inpatient bedrooms have a patient entertainment screen with access to TV and radio, which will be expanded so people can use their own apps to watch content. And a multi-faith room has recording and livestreaming capabilities to stream services directly to patients’ rooms.

The design of the hospital maximises natural light – all patient rooms have access to natural daylight and views, with more than half enjoying city-wide views of Liverpool.

Superior medical facilities

There are 18 state-of-the-art operating theatres for inpatient and day case surgeries.

Support areas and restaurant

In the new Royal, there are more areas for patients and families, including a 10^th floor 200 seat restaurant with panoramic views of the city.

There are also shops, outdoor spaces, courtyard gardens and a spiritual area.

Clinical research

A large clinical research facility will place Liverpool University Hospital Foundation Trust at the forefront of national and international cutting-edge trials and studies, and enable it to play a critical role in the development of safer and more effective medicines and treatment.

Hi-tech 

The new hospital has self-check-in kiosks for outpatients and day-case patients, high speed Wi-Fi and a ‘distributed antenna’ system to ensure mobile phone coverage for all main networks.

Building bridges

The new Royal has three link bridges connecting it to the adjacent Clatterbridge Cancer Centre Liverpool to enable cancer patients to receive rapid access to its care and services, and to allow its patients to benefit from Clatterbridge’s specialist oncology support.

Where is the new entrance to the Royal?

The new entrance is on Mount Vernon Street which is off Prescot Street.

How to get to the new Royal Liverpool Hospital

By bus: There’s a number of bus routes which stop at the hospital or near it, including the 8, 9, 10 and 10A on Prescot Street, and the 61 and 79C which stop on West Derby Street.

By train: The hospital is about a mile from Lime Street.

By car: There is a patient drop-off point on Mount Vernon Street, and the postcode for your SatNav is L7 8YE.

Parking

There is accessible parking at Q-Park car park on Epworth Street (postcode L6 1LY). Disabled parking spaces are on the entry level of the car park and staff can help patients and visitors if necessary.

There is also a shuttle service that runs from the Q-Park to the new hospital entrance.

Find out more here.