St Helier Hospital

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St Helier Hospital and Queen Mary's Hospital for Children
Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust
St. Helier Hospital (geograph 3573272).jpg
Sutton London UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Shown in Sutton
Geography
LocationWrythe Lane, St Helier, Sutton, Carshalton SM5 1AA, London, England, United Kingdom
Coordinates 51°22′49″N0°11′01″W / 51.3803°N 0.1836°W / 51.3803; -0.1836
Organisation
Care system NHS England
Type District General Hospital
Affiliated university St George's, University of London
Services
Emergency department Yes Accident & Emergency
Beds629
History
Opened26 March 1938;86 years ago (1938-03-26)
Links
Website http://www.epsom-sthelier.nhs.uk
Lists Hospitals in England

St Helier Hospital (full title: St Helier Hospital and Queen Mary's Hospital for Children) in the London Borough of Sutton is run by Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust along with Epsom Hospital. It is located next to the large St Helier council estate and close to the major intersection known as Rosehill.

Contents

The hospital offers a full range of hospital services including a 24-hour accident and emergency department. The site is also home to the South West Renal and Transplantation Service and the Queen Mary's Hospital for Children, a dedicated children's hospital. St Helier Hospital is a major teaching hospital for St George's, University of London, and is a main teaching site for medical degrees.

History

A ward at St Helier Hospital in 1943 Student Nurse- Life at St Helier Hospital, Carshalton, Surrey, 1943 D13888.jpg
A ward at St Helier Hospital in 1943
The art deco entrance of St Helier Hospital floodlit at night in 2009 08 Oct 09 - St Helier's Hospital.jpg
The art deco entrance of St Helier Hospital floodlit at night in 2009

The hospital was commissioned in 1934 when Surrey County Council acquired a 999-year lease of 10 acres of land on the St Helier council estate which had been named in honour of Mary Jeune, Baroness St Helier, a prominent alderman on the London County Council. [1] Queen Mary laid the foundation stone for the new hospital on 26 March 1938. [1] It was designed by Saxon Snell & Phillips, who were chosen for their experience in hospital design, in the thirties modernist style. [2] It received its first patients in February 1941 during the Second World War. [1]

Less than a month later, the hospital was damaged in a bombing raid by a parachute mine. [1] John Major, the former Prime Minister was born in the hospital in 1943. [3] Further damage was caused in later raids and the hospital was struck by two flying bombs in June 1944. [4] St Helier Hospital remained functional throughout the War and was painted green to make it less visible to German bombers in the latter years of the war. [5] It joined the National Health Service in 1948. [1]

The Queen Mother visited the hospital in 1963, during the hospital's jubilee year and, in 1987, Diana Princess of Wales opened the new maternity unit. [1] Services were transferred from Queen Mary's Hospital for Children in 1993. [6] St Helier Hospital came under the management of the Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust in 1999. [7]

In November 2013, as part of the Better Services Better Value Review of NHS services in London, the trust proposed the downgrading of the maternity and Accident and Emergency Departments. [8]

Services

The main building is divided into three blocks: A, B and C. The other buildings are: [9]

London Buses routes 151, 157, S1 and S2 stop outside the hospital. [10]

The nearest London Underground station is Morden Underground station, from which there are frequent buses to the hospital via Rose Hill (about 5 minutes walk from the hospital). The nearest National Rail station is St Helier station which is slightly less than one mile from the hospital (about a 15-minute walk), although this is infrequently served (only 1 train every 30 minutes off-peak). [11]

Criticism

The hospital has attracted some criticism because of the deteriorating physical condition of the buildings, some of which date from the 1940s. Writing in The Observer newspaper, the chief medical officer of the trust, Dr Ruth Charlton, described the hospital as "dilapidated and unpleasant", with regular basement flooding and emergency ward closures. [12]

On 13 January 2025, the phlebotomy department closed due to flooding from a partial ceiling collapse. This led to the rescheduling of many blood tests, with patients redirected to other facilities for urgent tests. The trust apologised for the inconvenience and assured that routine blood tests would resume the following day. This incident highlighted ongoing concerns about the hospital's infrastructure, which is part of a broader maintenance backlog for London hospitals, estimated at over £3.6 billion. [13] However, there is hope for future improvements, as the hospital may receive funding from The King's Fund through the New Hospital Programme, which aims to address such infrastructure issues. [14]

On 20 January 2025, in the House of Commons, Health Secretary Wes Streeting confirmed that works on a new hospital building in Sutton would not begin until 2033 at the earliest, placing it in 'wave two' of the New Hospital Programme. [15]

Notable births

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "St Helier Hospital". Lost Hospitals of London. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  2. ↑ Hyatt, Christine. "A Brief History of St. Helier Hospital". Sutton Local Records and Archives, London Borough of Sutton.
  3. ↑ There is a plaque at the main entrance of the hospital stating this.
  4. ↑ Roberts, Zoe (7 May 2010). "History of St.Helier Hospital The first Foundation stone". Sutton Local Records and Archives, London Borough of Sutton.
  5. ↑ "Epsom and St Helier NHS trust – Our Story". St Helier Hospital. Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  6. ↑ "Queen Mary's Hospital". Lost Hospitals of London. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  7. ↑ "Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust: Financing Application". NHS Trust Development Authority. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  8. ↑ "GPs vote against closure of local A&E". Pulse. 2 December 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  9. ↑ "Site map". Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS TRust. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  10. ↑ "Buses from St Helier Hospital". Transport for London . Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  11. ↑ "St Helier London Rail Station". Transport for London. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  12. ↑ Michael Savage (13 May 2023). "Patient safety at risk in crumbling hospital Boris Johnson promised to replace". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  13. ↑ Harrison Galliven (14 January 2025). "London hospital cancels urgent blood tests after collapsed ceiling causes building to flood". The Standard. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
  14. ↑ "The King's Fund responds to the to the Labour Party's pledge to progress the New Hospital Programme". kingsfund. 4 June 2024. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
  15. ↑ "'People have been let down once again' as new Sutton hospital to replace 'crumbling' facilities delayed until 2032". Surrey Live. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
  16. ↑ "Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust". X. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  17. ↑ "About Elliot Colburn". Elliot Colburn. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  18. ↑ "John Major in bid to save hospital where he was born". Your Local Guardian. 21 April 2007.

Further reading

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