Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, unveiled a commemorative plaque at an official ceremony on Thursday, 19 November at the new Birmingham Dental Hospital and School of Dentistry at Pebble Mill, Edgbaston.
Her Majesty met with clinicians, researchers and students during a guided tour of the state-of-the-art facilities.
The hospital, managed by Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust, will be the new home of specialist dental treatment for West Midlands’ patients and also houses the University of Birmingham’s School of Dentistry, strengthening a partnership delivering dental health and education in the city since 1880.
Following the ceremony, staff are working to prepare the building for its operational opening for public early in 2016.
The four-storey building will provide a range of high quality clinical dental services for the public in one wing, while a second wing will offer world-class research facilities and a modern learning environment for more than 600 undergraduate and postgraduate students and trainees each academic year.
With a total cost of £50m, the development is a key element of the new Edgbaston Medical Quarter and further enhances the city’s reputation as a hub of medicine, learning and life sciences.
University staff and students will enjoy the benefits of being located much closer to the main Edgbaston campus and medical school, allowing for closer integration of facilities.
The development represents the first integrated, stand-alone dental hospital and dental school to be built in the UK for almost 40 years.
The site was home to the BBC’s Pebble Mill Broadcasting Centre from November 1971, when it was opened by HRH Princess Anne, until its closure in 2004. It then remained unused until construction work to build the new dental hospital and school began in September 2013, following full planning permission in December 2012. The development replaces the 50-year-old dental hospital at St Chad’s Circus.
The realisation of the project results from several years of working closely with our development partners Birmingham and Solihull LIFT (BaS LIFT) and with the support of a wide range of organisations including Calthorpe Estates, Community Health Partnerships, One Creative Environments Ltd and Galliford Try.
Tracy Taylor, chief executive of Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust said:
“The first class public facilities at the new Birmingham Dental Hospital and School of Dentistry symbolise everything we want to achieve as a provider of high quality healthcare services.
“We are committed to working with partners to provide first class care and treatment for all the communities we serve in modern, accessible locations with high quality facilities.
“This is a real success story that shows how partners from different sectors can together deliver value-for-money infrastructure projects that meet the needs and expectations of public and practitioners.”
Professor Philip Lumley, head of the School of Dentistry at the University of Birmingham said:
“This new building will be a state-of-the-art home for our world-class teaching and research.
“Not only will the people of the city and region be able to access first-class treatment within this building, but we will be training the dental team of the future right here as well.
“This educational offering combined with the ground-breaking research which is carried out by our staff will allow us to develop further innovations to underpin the oral and dental health of the region and beyond.”
John Taylor, chairman of BaS LIFT said; “This is an exceptional day for Birmingham Dental Hospital and School of Dentistry. I am sure our NHS and University partners, staff, students and the people of Birmingham will be extremely proud of this state-of-the-art building, world-class research facilities and modern learning environment, which is comparable to the best in the world.”
The new Birmingham Dental Hospital and School:
- has a total project cost of £50 million
- is the first integrated dental hospital and school built in the UK for almost 40 years
- offers 154 dental chairs
- is equipped to treat over 120,000 patients a year (ie. at least 120,000 separate contacts).
- offers world class learning and research facilities for more than 600 students
- sits on a 1.5-hectare (6.7-acre) site, has four storeys and covers an area of 15,465 square metres
- offers a wide range of clinical services including emergency dental care, restorative dentistry, oral surgery and medicine, orthodontics and paediatric dentistry.
For further information, please contact:
David Disley-Jones
External Communications Manager
Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust
Phone: 0121 466 7281
Mobile: 07545 419885
Email: david.disley-jones@bhamcommunity.nhs.uk
Richard Shelton
Head of Communications
Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust
Phone: 0121 466 7280
Mobile: 07545 419883
Email: Richard.Shelton@bhamcommunity.nhs.uk
Luke Harrison
Media Relations Manager: Health Sciences
University of Birmingham
Tel: 0121 414 5134
Mob: 07789 921163
email: l.harrison.1@bham.ac.uk
Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust – Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust (BCHC) provides accessible and responsive community healthcare across the city of Birmingham and specialist healthcare services, including Birmingham Dental Hospital and community dental services, to the wider West Midlands region. As one of the largest community healthcare providers in England, employing more than 5,000 staff, BCHC’s mission is to deliver better care.
University of Birmingham – The College of Medical and Dental Sciences at the University of Birmingham is a major international centre for research and education in medicine, medical sciences, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy and physiotherapy.
Dentistry at Birmingham UK is the first choice for scientists, professionals, and leading students everywhere who want to be involved in world class research, or to get an internationally acclaimed degree in the dental and biomaterials professions.
Today, the School of Dentistry is a thriving institution having over 100 dental, therapy, and biomaterial students per year. There are a large number of postgraduate research students together with support staff present in the school. The school continues to grow and is well placed to meet the demands and challenges of the coming years.
Birmingham and Solihull LIFT Ltd (BaS LIFT) – was established in 2004, following the government’s plan to make 'joined-up' public services a reality via the national Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) programme. It is jointly owned by Community Health Partnerships (Department of Health), and Prime LIFT Investments Ltd (which is a joint venture between Prime plc and HICL Infrastructure Company Limited). BaS LIFT working together with its partners, seeks to develop the infrastructure for a new generation of health and social care services for the local community. BaS LIFT has already worked on many new health centres in the West Midlands as part of a long term programme of regeneration and reinvestment in community based healthcare. For more information visit www.baslift.co.uk
One Creative Environments Ltd – is an integrated building design business with a dynamic multi-disciplinary team comprising architecture, landscape architecture, masterplanning, structural and civil engineering, building services, interior design and BREEAM assessment. Specialising in healthcare facilities, the company has a collaborative 360° approach meaning they work in partnership with clients, developers, investors, contractors, manufacturers, advisors, building users and communities to create designs that not only safeguard a smooth construction process but which result in buildings that are easy and cost effective to operate once complete. For more information, visit www.oneltd.com
Galliford Try – Galliford Try plc is a leading UK housebuilding and construction group with a turnover of £1.5bn. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and a member of the FTSE 250. The housebuilding business – through its Linden Homes brand – sells distinctive homes to the public and affordable homes to housing associations and local authority providers across the South and South East of England. The construction business carries out building and infrastructure work across the UK with clients ranging from major Government departments through to regulated utilities and private sector companies
Calthorpe Estates – is one of the UK’s most forward-thinking and progressive property investment and development companies. The Calthorpe Estates team is responsible for delivering a multi-million pound regeneration portfolio, including retail and leisure, office and medical developments. The Estate covers 610 hectares in Edgbaston, less than a mile from Birmingham City Centre. The Sunday Times in March 2013, chose Edgbaston as one of the Top 10 Best areas to live.
Community Health Partnerships – is owned by the Department of Health and is the national lead for the Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) programme. CHP has a 40% shareholding in Birmingham and Solihull LIFT Company; BaS LIFT. The LIFT programme continues to provide modern, purpose-built, clean and safe facilities for over 500 GP Practices, Pharmacies and a wide range of community and social care providers across England.