The Lifts of the Main Ward Block

The Main Ward Block had 10 lifts in total which went right from the ground floor to the 10th floor, although the service  lifts went to the boiler rooms in the roof. Each floor had its own foyer which the bed lifts and visitor lifts opened onto, as seen in the image from my simulation of the MWB.

Lift Foyer on each Floor
The lifts opened out onto a foyer. Each set of 2 visitor lifts opened opposite each other and the patients lifts opened out towards the front of the Main Block. At the front was a 5 pannelled window with views over the hospital car park and across south Norwich. People visiting patients would have used the 4 passenger lifts or the 3 stairwells. On the east side of the bed lifts was the central stairwell. Porters carrying patients up and down from the ground floor operating theatres or to and from other hospitals used the 2 bed lifts.

Bed Lifts
The bed lifts were 2 such lifts next to each other with enough room to carry patients in their hospital beds up and down the hospital towerblock, to the operating theatres on the ground floor to the 10th floor private rooms, and to other parts of the hospital, accessed through the ground and 1st floor or even to other hospitals, where an ambulance or medical travel bus was waiting on the first floor entrance.

Vistor Lifts
The visitor lifts opened onto the main lift foyer. 2 at each side of the foyer, diagonally across from the bed lifts. These lifts may also have been used for the doctors and nurses.

Service Lifts
The service lifts opened onto the back corridor, a service corridor on each floor. Porters and engineers used these lifts, porters carrying food, medication and linen up and down the building and any linen needing to be cleaned and food waste and medical waste to be carried from the wards down to the ground floor and incinerated or taken away to landfill sites.

Kitchen Lifts
Each floor of the Main Ward Block had a kitchen at the back of the building which has 2 lifts which carried food from the kitchen areas on the ground floor to the floors above at breakfast, lunch and mealtimes. These 2 lifts opened out into the kitchen on each floor which was at the back of the building. Also these lifts would have been used to carry food waste down to the ground floor and out to the incinerator.