behind the scenes of how one of the uk s biggest hospitals transitions from old to new. we are going this way. liverpool s biggest hospital is on the move. ward 7a is ready to release patients. more than 600 patients and thousands of staff will be transferred to a brand new building. i m quite nervous. we can plan for as many eventualities as possible but actually until the day of the move itself, we won t know exactly who we are transferring. it s taken nine years and more than £850 million to complete. hundred times better, hundred times better. i absolutely cannot wait. any number of things could go wrong, but nothing can. cheering and applause and by the end, the hope is the health services of an entire city will be transformed. absolutely exciting. best thing that could happen to liverpool. siren wails right in the heart of the city, the royal liverpool hospital has been a landmark since the 1970s. i think the building itself at the time it was actually put up was proba
in the st paul s eye centre, staff are preparing to close the doors for the last time. it s very emotional, it s sad. it s an exciting time to go into the new building, but at the same time it s sad to have to leave the old place. for the last time, the lights are going out! goodbye! applause. emotional, i m not going to lie, it is. some of our patients have lifelong conditions and they ve grown up with us as well there. so very emotional. but we ve got somewhere really nice to go to. this is gavin, ward manager on seven, we re just starting our first checks
of getting our hospital open and ready for patients and staff. it s now just two weeks until the rooms are occupied and the first outpatient clinics is opening in five days. every ward that will be moving, every department that will be moving will have a ten day readiness checklist. a five day readiness checklist. a three day readiness checklist. but i generally think we have kind of dotted the is and crossed the ts and you know, good to go. one week on, staff in the st paul s eye centre are getting ready to leave. the girls have been packing for a while now but we ve just put the finishing touches into the crates. and it sjust deciding which room it s going to going in the new build, so hence, we ve had our map, we ve not let go of the map all day.
wire now. patients and staff. to the wire now- patients and staff. to the wire now. ., wire now. two weeks until the rooms are wire now. two weeks until the rooms are occupied wire now. two weeks until the rooms are occupied and i wire now. two weeks until the rooms are occupied and the i rooms are occupied and the first outpatient clinics is opening in five days. every ward that opening in five days. every ward that will opening in five days. every ward that will be opening in five days. every ward that will be moving, l opening in five days. every i ward that will be moving, every department that will be moving will have a ten day readiness checklist a five day readiness checklist, a three day readiness checklist. but i generally think we have kind of got the eyes and crossed the tees and you no to go. you know. tees and you no to go. you know. ., tees and you no to go. you know. ~ ., , ., , know. one week on, staff in the st paul s eye know. one week on, staff
structural issues uncovered by the new contractors, along with a global pandemic, mean the hospital s opening five years later than planned. yeah, it has been some time in the making, hasn t it? all i can say about that is we are finally here, ready for the population of liverpool. they have waited a long time so i hope they enjoye it when they actually get to experience it. welcome to the new hospital. i didn t realise it was this big. i thought it was only a small building. - yeah. compared to the other. it s lovely. lovely. so how does it compare to the old building? there is no comparison. what i ve seen of it up to now. no comparison. that s falling down, isn t it? in the st paul s eye centre, staff are preparing to close the doors for the last time. it s very emotional, it s sad. it s an exciting time to go into the new building, but at the same time it s sad to have to leave the old place.