The new bug-busting Royal London Hospital opens today and is designed to end cramped and dirty wards.
Health bosses say millions of patients will benefit from the new Royal London. The pioneering design will be the gold standard for future NHS hospitals and includes an emergency unit the size of three football pitches.
The hospital is entirely sealed. Windows are designed not to open in a bid to reduce infection rates and cut down on noise pollution and the air is treated before it enters the building so it is grime-free.
The walls and floors are also easy-clean and ward curtains are disposable to reduce the risk of superbugs.
The 17-storey building took five years to complete at a cost of £650 million and has been designed with input from doctors and nurses to provide the best healing environment for patients.
The key concerns for the NHS include reducing the risk of superbug infections, speedy patient recovery, minimising the length of hospital stays and protecting patient dignity.
Nearly half of the hospital's 727 beds are in single rooms with their own bathrooms. Other improvements include the size of the 26 operating theatres, which are a third larger than the old ones.
The original Royal London hospital opened more than 250 years ago. It had become outdated and ill-suited to patient care needs with noisy and cramped accommodation. A&E consultant Dr Malik Ramadhan said the changes were a vast mprovement, adding: "Patients will not wait on trolleys in corridors for beds to become available - our spacious new emergency department is the size of three football pitches."
Peter Morris, chief executive of Barts and the London's NHS Trust, said: "The move gives us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to provide a health legacy to a community with some of the most challenging health needs anywhere in the developed world."
