Background
The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) opened its doors to the first patients in November 2001. Occupying a 63-acre site on the Norwich Research Park and close to the University of East Anglia (UEA), the development brought together under one roof the work of two old hospitals: the former 231-year old Norfolk and Norwich in the city centre and the former West Norwich Hospital (now the Norwich Community Hospital).
Teaching modern health professionals
The hospital is also a teaching centre, in partnership with the nearby University of East Anglia (UEA), and its location on the Norwich Research Park means that research and development is also a key feature of our work.
The Norwich Medical School on the UEA campus has an intake of up to 200 new medical undergraduates each year. When the school is fully operational, some 500 medical students will be training in Norfolk and north Suffolk.
The Edith Cavell building, home to the UEA School of Nursing Sciences, opened next to the hospital site in January 2006, adding to the training and education facilities already available.
The hospital
The design of the building ensures a streamlined approach to patient care, with wards, treatment centres and outpatients linked according to their clinical speciality. The 27 operating theatres and 27 wards are equipped with the latest high-tech equipment to aid diagnosis and treatment and there are extensive facilities for day surgery and clinical research. Nearly a third of our beds (292) are located in individual, en-suite rooms and the rest are six-bed, single-sex bays (except in emergency and critical care areas) with single-sex bathroom facilities immediately adjacent.
The patient areas have been designed to ensure the hospital is filled with natural light. The windows reach down to the floor in the diamond-shaped ward blocks, allowing patients lying in a bed an uninterrupted view of the scenic Yare valley. In the grounds, the courtyards and gardens have been designed to be therapeutic and restful, decorated with artworks commissioned with the help of the Hospital Arts Project. Visitor amenities include restaurants and coffee bars, as well as a 2,800-capacity car park.
The hospital was built under the private finance initiative (PFI), whereby a private sector consortium builds and maintains the building and leases it back to the NHS. The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital has been built by Octagon Healthcare, who lease it to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for a period of 60 years.