Mount Vernon Hospital is located in Northwood, an area of north-west

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

. It is one of two hospitals run by

The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is the NHS trust responsible for the healthcare services provided at Hillingdon Hospital and Mount Vernon Hospital in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The trust is part of Imperial College Health ...

History

The hospital was founded as The North London Hospital for Consumption and Diseases of the Chest in a mansion in Hampstead High Street in 1860. A central London out-patients department opened in the Tottenham Court Road in 1861. In October 1880

Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (Arthur William Patrick Albert; 1 May 185016 January 1942), was the seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He served as Gov ...

laid the foundation stone for a purpose-built hospital at Mount Vernon in Hampstead. The hospital, which was built in the French Renaissance style, was completed in 1881. The adjacent Mount Vernon House served as the residence of the Hospital Seceretary and from 1903 as the hospital's Nurses' Home. Meanwhile the Central London out-patients department moved from Tottenham Court Road to

Fitzroy Square Fitzroy Square is a Georgian square in London. It is the only one in the central London area known as Fitzrovia. The square is one of the area's main features, this once led to the surrounding district to be known as Fitzroy Square or Fitzro ...

in 1891. In 1901 it was decided to build a more-modern facility on part of the Northwood Park Estate in

Northwood, London Northwood is an affluent area in northwest London, England. It is located within the London Borough of Hillingdon on the border with Hertfordshire and from Charing Cross. Northwood was part of the ancient parish of Ruislip, Middlesex and has f ...

. The foundation stone was laid by Princess Helena the following year. The hospital, which was designed by Frederick Wheeler, was arranged as a

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

with the wards following a semi-circle shape either side of a central staircase.Bowlt 2007, p.72 The new Mount Vernon Hospital opened in September 1904 and the old Hampstead building was then acquired and occupied by the Medical Research Council's

National Institute for Medical Research The National Institute for Medical Research (commonly abbreviated to NIMR), was a medical research institute based in Mill Hill, on the outskirts of north London, England. It was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC); In 2016, the NIMR b ...

. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, soldiers were treated at the Mount Vernon Hospital and, in 1932, the Central London out-patients department moved to Riding House Street. At the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Mount Vernon became a general hospital dealing with, inter alia, war casualties. In 1947 the central London out patients department moved to Portland Place and, in 1948, the hospital joined the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

In 1957, the

Gray Laboratory The MRC Oxford Institute for Radiation Oncology (formerly the Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology and Biology) is an institute dedicated to research on radiobiology and radiotherapy. It is funded by the Medical Research Council (United Kingdom ...

was established and, in 1967, the

Marie Curie Marie Salomea Skłodowska–Curie ( , , ; born Maria Salomea Skłodowska, ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first ...

Hospital, which had been providing cancer treatment from premises in Fitzjohn's Avenue, also moved to Mount Vernon site. The Paul Strickland Scanner Centre, which provides specialist imaging facilities using high quality equipment, opened in 1985 and was officially opened by the

Duchess of Kent Duchess of Kent is the principal courtesy title used by the wife of the Duke of Kent. There have been four titles referring to Kent since the 18th century. The current duchess is Katharine, the wife of Prince Edward. He inherited the dukedom ...

on 20 March 1986. The old hospital

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

which includes art nouveau designs, was converted into a library for the Gray Cancer Institute in 1988. The Lynda Jackson Macmillan Centre for cancer support and information was opened in 1993 by

The Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers o ...

. In 2009 a new treatment centre opened, providing surgery facilities in four new operating theatres. There is also a new outpatients department located in the treatment centre.

Performance

In 2014 the

Care Quality Commission The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care of the United Kingdom. It was established in 2009 to regulate and inspect health and social care services in England. I ...

found Mount Vernon Hospital was good at caring and being effective but safety, responsiveness and leadership all required improvement.

Mount Vernon Cancer Centre

The cancer centre is run by

East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust was created in April 2000, by merger of the former East Hertfordshire and North Hertfordshire NHS trusts. It runs Lister Hospital, Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, the New QEII Hospital, Hertford County Hospital ...

. In October 2019 a group of experts reported to health leaders that, due to dilapidated buildings, obsolete equipment and a lack of staff, patients were unsafe and the quality of care was uncertain. It was initially planned to be taken over by

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) is an NHS foundation trust based in London, United Kingdom. It comprises University College Hospital, University College Hospital at Westmoreland Street, the UCH Macmillan Cancer C ...

in April 2021. In 2021, plans were announced to move the cancer treatment centre to

Watford General Hospital Watford General Hospital is a 521-bed acute District General Hospital situated on Vicarage Road, Watford, Hertfordshire. Together with Hemel Hempstead Hospital and St Albans City Hospital, it is operated by West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust ...

, subject to funding.

Transport

The nearest tube station to the hospital is at Northwood, which is served by the

Metropolitan line The Metropolitan line, colloquially known as the Met, is a London Underground line between in the City of London and and in Buckinghamshire, with branches to in Hertfordshire and in Hillingdon. Printed in magenta on the tube map, the line i ...

. Five buses serve Mount Vernon Hospital, three of which are London bus routes. These routes are: * 508 (towards

Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500. Developed after the Second World War as a ne ...

, via

South Oxhey South Oxhey is a suburb of Watford in the Watford Rural parish of the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire, England. It is located in the south western corner of Hertfordshire and close to the boundary with Greater London. At the 2011 Census S ...

and

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

) * 282 (TfL, towards

Ealing Hospital Ealing Hospital is a district general NHS hospital, part of London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, located in the Southall district of the London Borough of Ealing, West London, England. It lies on the south side of the Uxbridge ...

) * 331 (TfL, towards

Ruislip Ruislip ( ) is an area in the London Borough of Hillingdon in West London, and in the historic county of Middlesex. Ruislip lies west-north-west of Charing Cross, London. The manor of Ruislip appears in the Domesday Book, and some of the ear ...

and

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxbrid ...

) * H11 (TfL, towards Harrow) * R1/R2 (towards Uxbridge twice per day, otherwise terminating at

Maple Cross Maple Cross is a village in Hertfordshire, England, which up until the Second World War consisted of an inn, a blacksmith's shop and a few cottages. Today there are around 800 postwar council houses. Some of these have been sold into private ow ...

)

References

Bibliography

* Bowlt, Eileen. M. (2007) ''Around Ruislip, Eastcote, Northwood, Ickenham & Harefield''. Stroud: Sutton Publishing

External links

Paul Strickland Scanner Centre
{{authority control Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Hillingdon NHS hospitals in London Hospital buildings completed in 1904 Hospitals established in 1860 Health in the London Borough of Hillingdon Hospitals in Middlesex Cancer organisations based in the United Kingdom 1860 establishments in England Buildings and structures in Hampstead