Royal Liverpool: New hospital showcases 'different way of working'

When the new Royal Liverpool Hospital opens its doors in October, every patient will have a single room with an en-suite bathroom.

That set-up is unusual for acute hospitals in England, but many feel it is the future for all new buildings.

"There's the privacy and dignity from the patient's point of view," says Jacqui Stamper, the hospital's associate chief nurse.

"If they're in the room and talking to the doctors or the nurses, there isn't somebody just the other side of a curtain listening.

"And then there's the infection prevention side of it as well.

"It's absolutely the state of the art way of hospital care really."

The move from the existing Royal Liverpool Hospital to the new site next door has taken longer than was first hoped, thanks in no small part to the collapse of building contractor Carillion, but it has seen the creation of a very different institution to its predecessor.

Each room will have its own television and there will also be a computer terminal, so clinical staff can discuss results.

The windows looking into the corridors also have blinds, which allow patients to control their own light sources.

Ms Stamper says it is "very exciting".

"It's been a long time coming for everybody and when you bring the staff over, it's great to see the faces and the smiles."

The new system will require staff to work differently, so patients can be properly monitored.

Each ward has been broken up into smaller zones of between six and eight beds, and each zone has its own base where the nurses will sit.

The trust which runs the hospital is currently running workshops to get staff used to the layout.

"Nursing staff will be used to working in a bigger team than a couple of people, so it is a different way of working," Ms Stamper says.

"We're listening to our staff and their concerns and answering those to see how we can address them going forward."

That process has seen the hospital appointing "moving champions", staff members in each existing ward who are liaising between rank-and-file staff and those in charge of the move.

Ward sister Emma Broadhurst has created a large board where staff can post their queries and concerns, along with what they are excited about.

Unsurprisingly, she says different people have different feelings about the big change.

"There's a lot of positives, but [as] with anything, there's obviously people who are a bit worried, because it's a new way of working," she says.

"I tell them it'll be like anything else.

"When they bring in a new thing or a new piece of documentation, everyone panics over that and then it just becomes the norm.

"So when we move over there, I'm sure it will be the norm as well."

The trust is also in the middle of a huge recruitment drive, as looking after patients in single rooms is more labour intensive than the more traditional wards.

It has already held two mass recruitment events in the city, attracting hundreds of applicants, and plans to hold more.

Ms Stamper says she is confident that the new wards will be a huge improvement.

"It's so different from what we've got now, but it's absolutely exciting.

"It's the best thing that could happen to Liverpool."

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