The hospital offers a full range of hospital services including a 24-hour accident and emergency department. The site is also home to the South West Renal and Transplantation Service and the Queen Mary's Hospital for Children, a dedicated children's hospital. St Helier Hospital is a major teaching hospital for St George's, University of London, and is a main teaching site for medical degrees.
History
A ward at St Helier Hospital in 1943The art deco entrance of St Helier Hospital floodlit at night in 2009
Less than a month later, the hospital was damaged in a bombing raid by a parachute mine.[1]John Major, the former Prime Minister was born in the hospital in 1943.[3] Further damage was caused in later raids and the hospital was struck by two flying bombs in June 1944.[4] 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.[5] It joined the National Health Service in 1948.[1]
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.[8]
Services
The main building is divided into three blocks: A, B and C. The other buildings are:[9]
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)
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).[11]
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 Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust Dr Ruth Charlton described the hospital as "dilapidated and unpleasant", with regular basement flooding and emergency ward closures.[12]