Location picked for new PM-backed hospital

Surrey Heartlands and South West London clinical commissioning groups today voted in favour of building a new emergency care facility in the London borough of Sutton.

The move will see six core services moved to the new site while its neighbouring hospitals, Epsom and St Helier, will retain the other 85 per cent. Plans also include the delivery of 24-hour urgent treatment centres at both locations while investing £80m into the existing buildings. The total cost is estimated to be around £500m.

Prime minister Boris Johnson announced the £3bn hospital building programme last July, with six trusts sharing a £2.7bn pot to build new ones up until 2025. Another 21 will get a portion of £100m in seed funding to develop future schemes between 2025 and 2030.

Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals Trust was one of the six selected for the first wave, with the others including Barts Health Trust in east London and The Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust in Essex.

It comes after years of attempts to redesign services in the area for the better part of nearly two decades. Hospital chiefs have argued the move is necessary to improve performance and care, with politicians and campaigners pushing back amid concerns over key issues such as accessibility.

Commissioners and clinical leaders at the meeting had the choice between three options: Epsom, St Helier or Sutton – although Sutton had been the preferred location informally for some time.

ESHUHT chief executive Daniel Elkeles said: “This is a hugely important and welcome decision about investing £500m here at Epsom and St Helier so we can provide high-quality healthcare for everyone for generations to come in a newly built emergency care hospital and refurbished existing buildings.

“It’s also important to remember that 85 per cent of the services are staying put at Epsom and St Helier Hospitals with urgent treatment centres open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at both.”