We urgently need a new hospital – find out more about our redevelopment programme and how you can help us to create a better St Mary’s
January 2024
St Mary’s Hospital – along with the Trust’s two other main sites, Charing Cross and Hammersmith 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.
The Trust submitted a first-stage business case for a full redevelopment of St Mary’s in 2021. You can read a summary of the St Mary's strategic outline case. The redevelopment 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 which are spread across the ten acre site.
The land that will be surplus to requirements will be used to help fund construction and provides an opportunity for further regeneration of the Paddington area. The Trust is keen for this to include the expansion of Paddington Life Sciences, the cluster of clinical and data research facilities and businesses forming around the hospital. Some of the land – currently the site of the main outpatients, Winston Churchill and Jefferiss buildings – is owned by the Trust’s dedicated charity, Imperial Health Charity.
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 of funding to embark on detailed design and planning for St Mary’s in 2024, the Trust has widened early involvement in the development of its plans.
On 11 January, it launched a range of activities to gather the views of patients and local communities about what matters most to them. These engagement activities align with Westminster City Council’s upcoming Regulation 19 public consultation, which will incorporate an updated site allocation for the St Mary’s campus.
We expect the detailed design and planning for St Mary’s to take around two and a half years to complete. If required, we are hopeful that we will then be able to leverage the value of our land that will be surplus to requirements to help us bridge the gap to our main capital funding from the government, currently scheduled for 2030. Even if we have to wait to start the main building works in 2030 or beyond, the detailed design and planning work will still be needed. We expect a decision on funding for detailed design and planning soon.