Epsom and St Helier Hospitals in Desperate Need of Repairs
Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals are in need of urgent repairs, with more than £150 million required to address crumbling infrastructure, according to the latest NHS data. Epsom and Ewell MP Helen Maguire has urged the Government to prioritise investment in the upcoming Budget to tackle these issues.
The data highlights that nearly £70 million of the required repairs are classified as ‘high risk,’ meaning a failure to address them promptly could lead to serious injury and significant disruption to healthcare services. Both hospitals have been struggling with deteriorating facilities for years, with St Helier Hospital facing particularly severe challenges, such as falling ceilings and condemned buildings.
One major issue is the division of emergency care teams across both sites, a problem that the proposed specialist emergency care hospital in Sutton is intended to resolve. However, delays in funding mean that these plans have not yet come to fruition, leaving local residents reliant on facilities that are increasingly unable to meet modern healthcare needs.
Ahead of the Autumn Budget, Liberal Democrat MP Helen Maguire has renewed her call for urgent financial support to clear the backlog of repairs and ensure that the hospitals can provide safe and effective care for local communities.
“It is scandalous that people in Epsom, Ewell, Ashtead, and Leatherhead are being treated in hospitals that need millions of pounds in repairs,” said Maguire. “When someone goes to the hospital, they should expect to be treated in a building that is safe. This is the bare minimum. We need to do far better. It is now down to this Government to rescue our NHS, which is why, at the Budget, the Chancellor must urgently use any changes to the borrowing rules to invest in hospitals here in Epsom and Ewell.”
NHS Response
A spokesperson for the Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust acknowledged the extent of the challenges, stating: “We’ve spent £60 million in the past five years improving the facilities in our ageing hospitals, which are deteriorating faster than we can fix them. Local people deserve better, and we’re ready to build a new state-of-the-art hospital and upgrade our existing sites, but urgently need investment to make this a reality.”
The spokesperson also highlighted the outdated nature of parts of the hospital infrastructure, some of which predate the founding of the NHS. “The age of our buildings means they flood regularly, and when our lifts break down, we can’t fix them because they don’t make the parts anymore.”
Plans for the new specialist emergency care hospital in Sutton aim to address these issues by consolidating highly skilled medical teams, providing round-the-clock care. This would alleviate the strain on the existing Epsom and St Helier hospitals, which will continue to provide 85% of local services, including outpatient appointments and scans.
The Way Forward
The pressing need for investment in the local NHS infrastructure is clear, with both the MP and the hospital trust calling for urgent action. As the Budget approaches, the focus will be on whether the Government will step up and provide the necessary funds to ensure that residents of Epsom and surrounding areas receive the healthcare services they deserve in safe and modern facilities.
Local residents will be closely watching developments in the Budget announcement, hoping that long-awaited improvements to the area’s hospitals will finally become a reality.