St Helier Hospital

History

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. Queen Mary laid the foundation stone for the new hospital on 26 March 1938. It received its first patients in February 1941 during the Second World War.

Less than a month later, the hospital was damaged in a bombing raid by a parachute mine. Further damage was caused in later raids and the hospital was struck by two flying bombs in June 1944. 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. It joined the National Health Service in 1948.

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. St Helier Hospital came under the management of the Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust in 1999.

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.

Services

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

• The pathology block (labelled D) which also contains the genitourinary medicine clinic
• The Women's Health Block (labelled E) (which contains the maternity and gynaecology wards, gynaecology clinics and delivery suite)
• Ferguson House (labelled F) (contains some outpatient clinics, administration departments and undergraduate teaching suite)
• Queen Mary's Hospital for Children (labelled J)
• The renal block (labelled K)

Transport links

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

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).

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.

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. 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.

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.

Notable births

• John Major – Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1990–1997
• Harry Aikines-Aryeetey – athlete
• Elliot Colburn – MP for Carshalton and Wallington 2019–2024

References

References

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