Readers will recall that in the autumn of 2020, the Prime Minister announced a £3.7 billion investment in 40 new hospitals over the next ten years. This would start with six hospitals that included the new Epsom and St Helier Trust (E&SH) hospital in Sutton. A website was established to keep residents informed of developments – you can visit it here.

The project presented to residents was for a Specialist Emergency Care hospital with 500 beds, of which 70% would be single occupancy. It would be a cleaner, greener hospital, designed to be net zero carbon and co-located with the Royal Marsden, Maggie’s Centre and the Oak Cancer Centre sharing services for the benefit of patients. The hospital would be opened within four years of construction starting and incorporate six acute services in one place 24/7.

Despite this initial high-profile announcement all the current signs suggest the project is in now unlikely to proceed as promised or, at best, will be a considerably diluted version.
There is still no definite news to confirm that the proposed new hospital is going ahead or is slowly “dying in the vine”*. Last month we provided you with the PR/Political response from the E&SH NHS Trust which stated that the budget was intact, but they were awaiting feedback from the Department of Health before proceeding. We then asked our MP Chris Grayling to approach the Secretary for Health to find out what was happening. The reply he received was:
“A new hospital scheme for Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust forms part of the Government’s commitment to deliver 40 new hospitals by 2030. The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with all schemes in the programme on the timetable for delivery over the decade. We continue to discuss the development of the plans with Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust. All schemes within the new hospital programme will follow the usual business case process, including being reviewed and agreed with HM Treasury.”
To use Chris Grayling’s words, “Not a very forthcoming response, I’m afraid”. Reading between the lines, nothing is happening, and nothing is likely to happen in the near future. The new hospital, promised for decades, seems likely to sink into the political bureaucracy currently engulfing the NHS whilst millions have and continue to be spent thinking about it.
A further development is a recent announcement that the Children’s Cancer Unit at the Sutton Royal Marsden Hospital (which was to have formed part of the new Sutton hospital) is to be closed and likely transferred to St George’s. A spokesperson from The Royal Marsden quoted in the Health Service Journal stated:
“Unfortunately it is not viable for us or the NHS to build and commission a paediatric intensive care unit at The Royal Marsden. Our priority now is our professional duty to share our expertise for the benefit of children with cancer and their families by helping ensure the new service is of the highest possible quality and ensuring a smooth and timely transition for our staff and patients.”
We also advised last month about the apparent takeover of the senior management team at E&SH by the St George’s team. Whilst E&SH and St. George’s remain two separate trusts, they are now jointly called the “St George’s, Epsom and St. Helier Hospital Group”. Both trusts have the same Chief Executive and Chairman.
Our concern is that that the ratio of St George’s staff in the new senior management team may not be adequately representing the interests and needs of staff, patients, and services at Epsom hospital. We are also not sure they are committed to the new hospital. This additional level of bureaucracy must also be increasing costs unnecessary.
It should also be noted that the latest Care Quality Commission report on Epsom General Hospital rated it as “Good” whereas St George’s was rated “Requires improvement”.
*Dictionary definition for “dying on the vine“: (idiomatic) To fail at an early stage or never come to fruition, typically due to neglect, infeasibility, or lack of resources.