New hospital ward for hurt soldiers

6:13pm Friday 4th July 2008

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A new military hospital ward for injured soldiers is to be built, the Ministry of Defence has announced.

Defence Under Secretary Derek Twigg announced the plans during a visit to the site of the proposed ward at a new hospital in Birmingham.

Birmingham New Hospital, set to open in 2010, will be part of the University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, which manages the city's Selly Oak Hospital where the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (RCDM) is based.

Speaking from the construction site of the new hospital, Mr Twigg said the new ward would be a "magnificent addition".

He said: "We are immensely grateful for all that our defence medical staff do.

"What I'd like to say today is how magnificent the NHS has been in making sure our injured service personnel receive first class care and our staff have the training they need when they go to Afghanistan and Iraq to save life and limb.

"We are grateful for the care and attention given by the NHS staff. This partnership with the NHS has been crucial to us.

"They key thing today of course is seeing the new hospital.

"This ward will be a magnificent addition to the services we already have.

"We can also make sure that as a military wing we can separate it out from the rest of the hospital if that is what is required."

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