Queen Elizabeth Hospital is a hospital in

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

in the

Royal Borough of Greenwich The Royal Borough of Greenwich (, , or ) is a London borough in southeast Greater London, England. The London Borough of Greenwich was formed in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. The new borough covered the former area of the Metropolita ...

. It was opened in March 2001 and serves patients from the

and the

London Borough of Bexley The London Borough of Bexley () is a London boroughs, London borough in south-east London, forming part of Outer London. It has a population of 248,287. The main settlements are Sidcup, Erith, Bexleyheath, Belvedere, London, Belvedere, Crayford ...

. The hospital was built to accommodate the services previously provided at Greenwich District Hospital and Brook General Hospital, and is 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 1992 ...

hospital. It is managed by the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust.

History

The hospital's name originates from the Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital, which occupied the site from 1977 until its closure in 1995, and was named after

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was al ...

(who opened the hospital on 1 November 1978). The

military hospital A military hospital is a hospital owned or operated by a military. They are often reserved for the use of military personnel and their dependents, but in some countries are made available to civilians as well. They may or may not be located on a m ...

was built on the site of the former Shrapnel Barracks and was a replacement for the Royal Herbert Hospital in Shooters Hill and Queen Alexandra Military Hospital. A new hospital was procured under a

contract to replace the military hospital and to accommodate services previously provided at Greenwich District Hospital and Brook General Hospital in 1998. The new hospital was built by Skanska at a cost of £84 million and opened in March 2001, being officially opened by the

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

on 11 December that year. In July 2012, Andrew Lansley,

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 in ...

, announced that the South London Healthcare Trust, formed in 2009 was to go into

special measures Special measures is a status applied by regulators of public services in Britain to providers who fall short of acceptable standards. In education (England and Wales) Ofsted, the schools inspection agency for England and some British Overseas Ter ...

and become the first Trust to have an independent Administrator appointed. The Trust was subsequently disbanded by

Jeremy Hunt Sir Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (born 1 November 1966) is a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2022 to 2024 and Foreign Secretary from 2018 to 2019, having previously served as Secretary of State for Health a ...

, Lansley's successor as Secretary of State for Health. On 1 October 2013 it was transferred to Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust on the disestablishment of South London Healthcare NHS Trust. Following power cuts, water shortages and floods the trust applied to the Independent Trust Finance Facility, part of the

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their o ...

, for £48 million to repair the hospital in June 2016. It stated that "The infrastructure issues arise from unresolved legacy problems with the 60 year PFI agreement between the Meridian Hospital Company and the now dissolved Greenwich Health Authority, and derive from failures in specification and design standards, cost cutting at construction and contract terms that give the present trust limited redress against defects arising from the initial design and installation." The application was approved in November 2017. In April 2018, following the January 2018 liquidation of

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 ...

, renewed concern about privatised provision of services at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust prompted a petition, supported by the trade union GMB and local MP

Matthew Pennycook Matthew Thomas Pennycook (born 29 October 1982) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who was elected the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Greenwich and Woolwich in 2015 United Kingdom genera ...

, to bring 'soft' facilities services back in-house. In February 2023, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust appointed a contractor to undertake a £30m, 80-week programme of infrastructure works including installation of new primary high-voltage and low-voltage electricity distribution, back-up generators, a refurbished energy centre, and ventilation improvements including replacement of air handling units serving the operating theatres, pathology, delivery suite, special care baby unit and ward areas.

Criticisms

In February 2017, the South London Critical Care Network reviewed the hospital's intensive care department and found a complete lack of medical leadership. Care for patients across the trust could be affected because of issues with the critical care service. It was suggested that "younger fitter patients with single organ failure" would not be admitted to intensive care until they developed multi-organ failure because of pressures on bed availability. Only 3.5 full-time equivalent consultants were in post, with staff working locum shifts to fill gaps. "There was no ownership of the care of deteriorating patients in the wider hospital." Ear nose and throat surgeons in Lewisham would not go to Woolwich, so patients needing

tracheostomy Tracheotomy (, ), or tracheostomy, is a surgical airway management procedure which consists of making an incision on the front of the neck to open a direct airway to the trachea. The resulting stoma (hole) can serve independently as an airway ...

had to be sent to Lewisham for their operation.

Gallery

File:Main entrance, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich.jpg, Main entrance File:London, view from Shooter's Hill 09a.jpg, Hospital pavilions File:2019 Woolwich, Queen Elizabeth Hospital.jpg, Main building File:Queen Elizabeth Hospital official opening plaque.jpg, Hospital official opening plaque File:Plaque marking opening of Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital.jpg, Plaque marking opening of Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital File:Foundation stone from Greenwich Union Infirmary.jpg, Foundation stone from Greenwich Union Infirmary

References

External links

Trust website

Queen Elizabeth Hospital
on the NHS website
Care Quality Commission inspection reports
{{authority control Hospital buildings completed in 2001 NHS hospitals in London Buildings and structures in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Health in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Hospitals established in 2001 Woolwich

History

Criticisms

Gallery

See also

References

External links