Building a Better St Mary's Hospital

St Mary's Hospital has launched a range of activities to gather the views of patients and local communities as they seek to accelerate plans to build a new hospital in Paddington. St Mary’s is the busiest of London’s four major trauma centres and, with its academic partner Imperial College London, the Trust hosts the country’s largest NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, contributing to healthcare breakthroughs nationally and internationally.

However, its sprawling patchwork of aging buildings, half of which are older than the NHS itself, are now in such poor condition that a major building failure is likely within four to seven years. St Mary’s Hospital – along with the Trust’s two other main sites, Hammersmith and Charing Cross hospitals – are part of the Government’s New Hospital Programme. A new Western Eye is also intended to be included within the most suitable of these developments.

Following the Government’s decision in May 2023 to delay the main capital funding for the Trust’s schemes, the Trust has been working with the New Hospital Programme to explore ways to keep its redevelopments on track, particularly St Mary’s where the need is so urgent. With the possibility now of funding to embark on detailed design and planning for St Mary’s in the coming months, the Trust is especially keen to widen early involvement in the development of its plans.

The Trust has submitted a first-stage business case for a full redevelopment of St Mary’s. It will involve building a new, 800-840 bed hospital in the east of the St Mary’s estate. It will be primarily one, tall building on a smaller footprint than the current facilities that are spread piecemeal across a 10 acre site. The land that will be surplus to requirements will be used to help fund construction. Some of the land – currently the site of the main outpatients, Winston Churchill and Jefferiss buildings – is owned by Imperial Health Charity, the Trust’s dedicated charity.