The New Hospital Programme funded, £107m project, which is run and staffed by  Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH), was initially planned to open in November 2025 but was delayed due to a problem with its hot water system.

Anthony May, chief executive of NUH, said: ‘This is a significant moment for NUH, for rehabilitation medicine in this country and for the many NHS patients whose lives will be changed and restored in this pioneering facility, set in a unique location.'

The long-term ambition for the 70-bed NRC is to be the national hub in a future hub and spoke model, or a single model multi-site service, with regional rehabilitation units (spokes) established across the country to widen impact and benefit as many patients as possible.

The NRC's state-of-the-art technology includes the most comprehensive robotics suite in the NHS and first 360 hoist in the UK.

The NRC will primarily receive patients from across the East Midlands, many of them anticipated to come through the East Midland's Major Trauma Centre – the busiest in the UK and based at NUH. 

It will lead rehabilitation research and innovation, as well as providing training and education through an NRC Academy, in collaboration with a consortium of 26 universities throughout England.

The NRC was delivered by Integrated Health Projects, the joint venture between VINCI Building and Sir Robert McAlpine.