Darent Valley Hospital is a 478-bed, acute district general hospital in

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The hospital has an

Emergency Department An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of pati ...

. The hospital is managed by the

Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust The Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust is an NHS Trust with an annual budget of about £121 million, and employs 1,900 staff. It manages Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford, Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup, Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup, Erith and Di ...

History

The hospital, which was built to replace

Joyce Green Hospital Joyce Green Hospital was a hospital near Dartford, Kent, England. It opened in 1903 as an Isolation (health care), isolation hospital. In later years it was a Teaching hospital, training hospital. The hospital was closed in 2000 and the buildings ...

, stands on the site of the former

Darenth Park Hospital Darenth Park Hospital was a healthcare facility in Darenth near Dartford in Kent, originally founded as Darenth School. History The hospital was founded by the Metropolitan Asylums Board in Darenth near Dartford in Kent as Darenth School for 500 ...

, founded by the

Metropolitan Asylums Board The Metropolitan Asylums Board (MAB) was established under Poor Law legislation to deal with London's sick and poor. It was established by the Metropolitan Poor Act 1867 and dissolved in 1930, when its functions were transferred to the London Count ...

as "Darenth School" in 1878. The Regional Health Board agreed to close Darenth in 1973, but the last patients did not leave until 1988. The vast Victorian complex was then demolished. The new buildings were procured under a

Private Finance Initiative The private finance initiative (PFI) was a United Kingdom government procurement policy aimed at creating "public–private partnerships" (PPPs) where private firms are contracted to complete and manage public projects. Initially launched in 199 ...

contract in 1997, the first hospital project to use this form of procurement. They were designed by Nightingale Paulley Associates and built by

Carillion Carillion plc was a British multinational construction and facilities management services company headquartered in Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom, prior to its liquidation in January 2018. Carillion was created in July 1999, following a ...

at a cost of £94 million. The new hospital, which replaced the services previously provided at

West Hill Hospital West Hill Hospital was a health facility in West Hill, Dartford, Kent, England. It was managed by Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust. History The facility had its origins in the Dartford Union Workhouse which was designed by John Whichcord and ope ...

, Dartford and

, Dartford, was officially opened by

Alan Milburn Alan Milburn (born 27 January 1958) is a British Labour Party politician who was Member of Parliament (MP) for Darlington from 1992 to 2010. He served for five years in the Cabinet, first as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 1998 to 1999, a ...

Secretary of State for Health The secretary of state for health and social care, also referred to as the health secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department of Health and Social Care. The incumbent ...

, on 14 December 2000. A new on-site heart centre was opened on 2 January 2007.

References

{{authority control Hospital buildings completed in 2000 Hospitals in Kent Dartford NHS hospitals in England

History

See also

References