Royal Papworth Hospital has begun its move to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
Services are gradually being closed at their old site in Papworth Everard while services gradually open in the new hospital.
Patients will start to be admitted to the new hospital from Wednesday May 1.
It is estimated that the Papworth Everard site will fully close on Thursday May 9.
A hospital spokesman said patients should have received an appointment letter indicating which hospital they need to attend and when, but to contact switchboard on 01480 830541 if they are unsure.
“Moving a hospital 16 miles down the road is a complex task and will involve the dismantling, packing and unpacking of theatres, cath labs, critical care, and multiple ward areas,” said the spokesman. “More than 150 of the approximately 300 beds in the new hospital are being transferring from the current site.”
The move to Cambridge was approved in 2014 following the initial green light from the Department of Health in October 2013. Construction work for the new hospital began in 2015.
Royal Papworth Hospital and air ambulance charity Magpas came together last week to trial the emergency heart attack pathway at our new hospital.
Magpas Air Ambulance landed at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus with an intubated and ventilated mannequin patient on board, accompanied by a concerned “relative”.
The “patient” was then transferred into one of Royal Papworth’s new cath labs in a land ambulance via the dedicated route for emergency admissions.
The patient had been suffering with chest pain and required treatment under urgent treatment to deal with blocked arteries of the heart causing a heart attack or myocardial infarction.
Reflecting on the day, Dr Will Davies, consultant interventional cardiologist at Royal Papworth, said: “We saw a highly-successful scenario training day for the cardiology staff working in the cath labs.
“This joint exercise with Magpas and their enhanced medical team enabled us to test every permutation and combination of events to make sure we’re ready for our first emergency patients on May 1.
“Our patients can rest assured we’re fully ready to go live and the state-of-the-art facilities at the new Royal Papworth Hospital will ensure we maintain the best clinical outcomes possible for all patients following a heart attack.”
Magpas medical director Simon Lewis explained: “This training exercise with our Magpas enhanced doctor and paramedic team, our new simulated mannequin patient, ‘Harry’, and the Royal Papworth Hospital team was a great success.
“The hospital facilities are fantastic and made the transfer from the helipad through to the PPCI cath labs, very easy.
“This revolutionises the care given to patients. It was a privilege for our medical team to join the hospital at the new site.”
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