Pressure on Prime Minister to act now on crumbling St Helier Hospital buildings amid continuing delays

Prime Minister Keir Starmer was pressed in Parliament by Bobby Dean, MP for Carshalton and Wallington, to take immediate action to protect patient care at St Helier Hospital as it faces a decade-long wait for redevelopment.

St Helier Hospital, South West London, is older than the NHS itself but has endured decades of underinvestment. Large parts of the site are in severe disrepair, with leaking ceilings and sinking floors forcing the hospital to temporarily close wards. 

Despite the critical conditions of buildings at St Helier Hospital, the Labour government pushed the start date for vital upgrade works back a decade to the 2030s. The hospital trust warns that continued delays could lead to the permanent closure of parts of the site.

During Prime Minister’s questions, Bobby Dean MP, said:

“The plans to upgrade St Helier hospital, including the delivery of a new specialist emergency care building, have been put back by 10 years. I am talking to the trust about a way to bring all or part of those plans forward, but in the meantime there is a very real fear that some of the buildings on the existing estate are at risk of catastrophic failure before the decade is out.

“Will the Government reassure me that they will work with the local trust on a plan to maintain and adapt the existing estate to ensure that St Helier hospital can survive all the way through to the completion of the major works?”

The Prime Minister acknowledged the challenges facing St Helier Hospital and promised Bobby Dean MP a meeting with the health minister to discuss this further.