Funding announced for detailed designs and planning for St Mary's Hospital redevelopment
The Government is to provide millions of pounds in funding towards detailed designs and planning for the redevelopment of St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington. More than half of the Westminster hospital is older than the NHS with the site suffering from much-publicised issues including crippling costs and a deteriorating estate.
It is to be included in the third wave of New Hospital Programme (NHP) funding, meaning construction is not expected to start for another decade. Today’s (February 5) announcement however enables it to continue progressing its redevelopment plans, with the hope consent for a new 800-840 bed hospital and life sciences campus will be secured in 2027/28.
Chief Executive of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Professor Tim Orchard, said the redevelopment presents ‘an exceptional opportunity’ to contribute to economic growth while also replacing its ageing facilities. Professor Orchard last month warned St Mary’s ‘will not last’ until the 2040s following the announcement it would be included in the NHP’s third wave of funding.
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The NHP was a 2019 Conservative election pledge promising to deliver 40 new hospitals by 2030. The National Audit Office in 2023 warned the 2030 target was likely to be missed, and more hospitals have been added to the NHP over time. Soon after taking power Labour launched a review into the programme, and on January 20, Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced funding would be released in waves. He said this was necessary due to the unaffordability of the original scheme.
All three Imperial sites, Hammersmith, Charing Cross and St Mary’s, were included in the final wave on which construction is not expected to start until 2035 to 2038. The Trust has estimated every six-month delay to the St Mary’s scheme would cost an additional £63-£73 million due to inflation, productivity and other impacts.
Professor Orchard said at the time: "We understand that the Government's New Hospital Programme must be affordable but the simple truth is that St Mary's Hospital, in particular, will not last until the 2040s. We run London's busiest major trauma centre and care for more than a million patients a year. We need to digest the detail of today's announcement, but we have to find a way to progress our schemes more quickly.
"This includes exploring alternative funding approaches, leveraging the value of our land that will be surplus to requirements and the significant contribution of our life science partnerships to local and national economic growth.”
The Trust has today announced the NHP will be providing funding to enable it to continue designing and planning for the St Mary’s redevelopment. An initial tranche of £19.4m is expected this month, with a total of around £50m estimated to be required to complete the work.
Professor Orchard said alongside progressing planning the Trust will also be working with partners to reduce the funding required for construction to begin, with the hope this may bring forward the start date. This will include setting up a taskforce with Westminster City Council and local MPs and expanding its work with Hammersmith and Fulham Council on the Upstream London industrial strategy.
He said: “We have an exceptional opportunity to make a significant contribution to economic growth through the expansion of Paddington Life Sciences – the life sciences hub surrounding St Mary’s – at the same time as building the new hospital to replace our current facilities, some of which are 180 years old.
“Independent analysis shows an expanded Paddington Life Sciences will create an additional 12-15,000 jobs and generate up to £1.5 billion in new economic activity annually. Along with Imperial College London and Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s White City Innovation District, co-located with our Hammersmith Hospital, it is also an integral part of the wider Imperial West Tech Corridor. Achieving planning consent for the redevelopment of St Mary’s will provide an immediate, additional boost to investor confidence, helping us enormously as we compete with life science propositions across Europe.
“And while St Mary’s has the most pressing needs and economic benefits, there will be similar opportunities for our two other hospitals in the New Hospital Programme, Charing Cross and Hammersmith. As they both involve phased refurbishment and some new build, rather than a full redevelopment, we have a little more time to work through options.”
Cllr Adam Hug, Leader of the Labour-run Westminster City Council, said the announcement will ‘boost efforts’ to secure funding to cover the project’s main construction costs. The council is proud to be working with the Trust on a joint taskforce, to include our MPs and a range of other stakeholders and experts, to make this redevelopment a reality as soon as possible.
“This is a huge step towards replacing the current Victorian era buildings and great news for Westminster where residents will benefit from new, improved facilities at London's busiest major trauma centre, which treats over a million patients each year. We’re looking forward to working with Imperial College Healthcare to deliver a new 850 bed hospital and world leading research centre - securing the best care and new jobs for our city.”
Rachel Blake, Labour MP for the Cities of London and Westminster, similarly praised the new funding. She said: “Since my election, and more recently since the New Hospitals Programme funding, I have worked hard to secure the future of the new hospital and am now working hard alongside my neighbouring MP, Joe Powell, to bring us together with Westminster City Council and Imperial College Healthcare in a funding taskforce with a view to confirm construction dates and bring forward a timeline that delivers certainty for residents of my constituency, and all Londoners who utilise St Mary’s services. I look forward to joining this taskforce to deliver change for my residents.
“I will continue to deliver on this issue, not only for my constituents, but for all those across London who were disappointed to see the initial funding delayed. This newly released funding marks a substantial step towards receiving the certainty our community needs for the future.”
Cllr Paul Swaddle, Leader of the Conservative opposition at Westminster City Council, said: "I and the local Conservatives, along with hundreds who signed our petition, have been calling on the Government and the local Labour council to step up on St Mary’s Hospital and back the urgently needed rebuild. It seems these cries have finally been listened to. I hope that unlike a lot of what the council does it will be more than a talking shop and will deliver a plan to enable the full rebuild, well before 2035 set by Government most recently."
The other two Imperial hospitals in the NHP, Hammersmith and Charing Cross, are both located in Hammersmith and Fulham. Cllr Stephen Cowan, Leader of Hammersmith and Fulham Council, said he believes the rebuild programmes at the hospitals can be accelerated through innovation in life sciences and a ‘laser focus’ on new investment opportunities.
“As new partners in our Upstream London industrial strategy, Imperial Healthcare has joined with Imperial College London and the council to deliver on our shared ambition to curate more high growth life science clusters across our borough. By doing that, we can also unwrap new, alternative funding options for vital NHS facilities while helping the government achieve its number one priority of inclusive economic growth and prosperity.”
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