Whipps Cross Redevelopment – Virtual Public Meetings
In October and November 2020, we held three virtual public meetings with our local partners for the communities who use Whipps Cross hospital in Waltham Forest, Redbridge and Epping Forest District. These provided the opportunity to present an update on all aspects of the redevelopment programme, answer questions and hear people’s views to help inform and shape our thinking as it continues to develop.
The events were hosted by Alan Gurney, Chief Executive of Whipps Cross Hospital alongside senior representatives from:
- Barts Health NHS Trust
- Local councils
- Clinical Commissioning Groups
- The wider East London health system
In total, the events were attended by around 180 people which reflects the keen interest and engagement of our local communities.
Each event included presentations from the redevelopment programme team, a joint presentation on improving health and care services in the Borough by senior clinicians from Whipps Cross and the local Clinical Commissioning Group and our design team – Ryder Architecture, setting out their emerging design thinking.
Key themes & questions
Members of the public were invited to ask questions, a selection of which were answered during Q&A sessions. There were a range of questions across all three events which had consistent themes including:
- The size of the new hospital
- The services it will provide
- The improvements planned in local primary and community health services
- The design of the hospital and plans for the wider site, including sustainability, housing as well as transport and access.
The questions were answered by an expert panel for each meeting with senior representatives from Barts Health and partner organisations. As a result of this, we have published a thematic frequently asked questions document on our website which can be found here.
You’ll find a summary of the different discussions that took place below.
Waltham Forest Virtual Public Meeting
Date: 15 October 2020
Hosts: Alan Gurney, Chief Executive of Whipps Cross Hospital and Alwen Williams, Group Chief Executive of Barts Health NHS Trust.
Total attendees: 95
The first virtual public meeting was held in partnership with Waltham Forest Council and Waltham Forest CCG. Alastair Finney, Redevelopment Director, provided an update on the programme, explaining that subject to business case approvals and planning permission, construction on a new hospital could begin in Autumn 2022 and would likely take around four years to build with a new hospital towards the end of 2026. In the more immediate term, it is anticipated ‘enabling works’ will begin early in 2021 to prepare the site for construction by demolishing the redundant buildings on the disused site of the former nurses accommodation.
Improvement of primary and community services
Dr Ken Aswani, Chair of Waltham Forest CCG and Mark Lobban, Director of Integrated Commissioning for the London Borough of Waltham Forest and the Waltham Forest Clinical Commissioning Group, outlined plans for improving primary and community services in Waltham Forest. Dr Heather Noble, Medical Director of Whipps Cross Hospital, described how improvements being made to care in hospital and closer working with community services was supporting patients to spend less time in hospital and return home sooner.
Hospital design and wider Whipps Cross site development
Stewart Murray, Strategic Director of Economic Growth and Housing Delivery at Waltham Forest Council, outlined the council’s new Local Plan for the area. This envisaged a minimum of 1500 new homes on the Whipps Cross site, including affordable homes and the opportunity of homes for key workers.
The Trust’s recently appointed design team, Ryder Architecture, led by Paul Bell, Lead Consultant, introduced the work they are taking forward to develop the design of the new hospital and the wider Whipps Cross site. This included their early concept vision of developing a ‘hospital in a garden and a garden in a hospital’ strengthening the links between the hospital and its setting of Epping Forest.
The full presentation pack for the Waltham Forest public meeting can be accessed here.
Redbridge Virtual Public Meeting
Date: 29 October 2020
Hosts: Alan Gurney, Chief Executive of Whipps Cross Hospital and Alwen Williams, Group Chief Executive of Barts Health NHS Trust.
Total attendees: 54
Whipps cross partnership with local CCGs and wider health and care systems
The second public meeting was held in partnership with Redbridge Council and Redbridge CCG. In addition to the presentations by the redevelopment team and Ryder Architecture, this event included a presentation from Dr Anil Mehta, Chair of Redbridge CCG, who spoke on the CCG’s vision for improved health and care services and how they are working closely with Whipps Cross.
Dr Rina Davison, Deputy Medical Director of Whipps Cross, explained how new models of care such as more same-day emergency care, are improving quality and access to services at Whipps Cross and how the hospital is working in partnership with the wider health and care system in North East London.
The full presentation pack for the Redbridge public meeting can be accessed here.
Epping Forest District Virtual Public Meeting
Date: 12 November 2020
Hosts: Alan Gurney, Chief Executive of Whipps Cross Hospital and Ralph Coulbeck, Group Director of Strategy at Barts Health NHS Trust
Total attendees: 29
Whipps Cross partnership with local CCG’s and wider health and care systems
The Epping Forest District meeting was held in partnership with Epping Forest District Council and West Essex CCG. In addition to the presentations by the redevelopment team led by Greg Madden, Programme Director and Ryder Architecture, this event included a presentation from Christine Moss, Medical Director of West Essex CCG who described their focus on prevention and early identification of long term diseases with good proactive management and as much care as possible provided outside of the hospital.
Dr Rina Davison, Deputy Medical Director of Whipps Cross, explained how new models of care such as more same-day emergency care, are improving quality and access to services at Whipps Cross and how the hospital is working in partnership with the wider health and care system in North East London.
The full presentation pack for the Epping Forest District public meeting can be accessed here.