First patients welcomed at new Royal Liverpool University Hospital

The new Royal Liverpool University Hospital will welcome its first patients today (Tuesday 4^th October 2022) as outpatient services begin operating from the new building.

More than 360 patients are expected through the doors today and outpatient clinics will continue to operate throughout the week at the new hospital.

James Sumner, Chief Executive at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said:

“Today is a real milestone for the new Royal as we welcome our first outpatients to Liverpool’s new state-of-the-art hospital.

“The new Royal is for the people of Liverpool and the city region and we are so proud that we can start to give our patients, staff and local communities the long-awaited hospital they deserve.”

In order to allow patients time to familiarise themselves with their new hospital, outpatients will operate at a reduced capacity that will increase in stages over the next four weeks, with appointments being allocated according to clinical priority.

The outpatients department is located across the ground and lower ground floors of the new hospital, and these patients will be the first to use the new digital check-in which has been designed to speed up the appointment process.

The hospital is undertaking a phased 24 day move from the current Royal, which started on Wednesday 28^th September, and the first inpatients will be transferred to the hospital on Monday 10^th October.

During the move, staff and volunteers will be on hand to assist with any queries or wayfinding around the new building.

People are being asked to continue using the A&E department at the old Royal until later this month when the service transfers to the new building.

The new Royal has been designed to reflect the patient journey, placing key specialisms adjacent to each other, providing faster access to specialist care when required and improving patient flow through treatment.

The hospital has 640 beds with en-suite facilities, 18 state-of-the-art operating theatres, for both inpatient and day-case surgery and 40 critical care beds for patients in ICU (intensive care unit) and HDU (high dependency unit). In addition, a large clinical research facility will place LUHFT as a national and international leader in clinical trials and studies.

The latest information on the move into the new Royal is available at www.liverpoolft.nhs.uk/new-royal