Delayed Liverpool hospital will open in September, health secretary says

A new hospital which was expected to open in 2017 before facing delays due to the collapse of the firm building it will welcome patients from September, the health secretary has said.

Sajid Javid said the trust in charge of the new Royal Liverpool University Hospital was "very confident" a move to the site would start in July.

The site was already behind schedule when Carillion went bust in 2018.

He said it was the "kind of hospital we need in the future".

During a visit, he said that while the project had been delayed, the way it had been built meant it was "really looking forward to the future".

"We have all gone through the horrid pandemic and it's been incredibly challenging especially for the NHS," he said.

"But we have learned lessons about how we can protect ourselves against future pandemics."

He added that the 646-bed facility would be one of the largest acute hospitals in the country with state-of-the-art facilities.

The project was originally estimated to cost £335m but it is now believed it may eventually cost more than £1bn.

While it is not yet fully open, part of the new hospital housed a unit dedicated to helping the city deal with the pandemic.

It included three wards which formed a "step-down" unit to help patients recover from Covid-19 and other conditions.

Kim Johnson, Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, said the delays were "frustrating for the people of Liverpool and further afield who come to the hospital to be treated".

She told BBC Radio Merseyside that there was a "need to look out how we procure services" and put in place "risk plans to make sure these things don't happen".

However, she added that "at the end of the day", the city would be "left with a fantastic hospital with fantastic services".

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