Ground Breaking at Springfield University Hospital

Ground is broken to create new £150m world class mental health facilities at Springfield University Hospital.

South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust has officially begun the construction of its new state-of-the-art mental health facilities.

Its ‘breaking ground’ ceremony on Monday 10 February 2020 marks the start of the transformation of the Trust’s largest site, Springfield University Hospital, in Tooting, South London, for the 1.1million residents it serves.

Two new buildings will house eight inpatient wards in which service users will cared for in world-class facilities specially designed for recovery from mental health conditions. They are due to be completed in 2022.

The transformation of the Springfield University Hospital site will include the development of 32 acres of parkland for the whole community to use - the first of its kind since the 2012 London Olympics.

Furthermore, there will be 839 brand new homes created for local families, shops and a café for people to meet and relax, and £5m of improvements to local transport facilities.

The integration on one site of hospital services, new homes, parkland, shops and cafes for the whole community, including service users and carers, local people and hospital staff, will work to reduce the stigma of mental health conditions by bringing everyone together to benefit from these new facilities.

These developments extend beyond estate and buildings, as the Trust is also transforming its community services to revolutionise the way it provides mental healthcare for local people, creating a healthy future for our community and a better recovery from mental health conditions.

South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust Chair Ann Beasley, CBE, said:

“I am overjoyed to be the first to start digging the foundations of our transformational mental health facilities which will revolutionise the care we provide to our service users and patients – and provide an excellent environment for our staff.

“Our new buildings, the new and redeveloped housing, the shared public park and the new cafés and shops will be there for everyone to benefit from - as one community.”

South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust current Chief Executive Vanessa Ford said:

“Our staff, patients and community have made vital contributions to the design of our new, cutting-edge mental health facilities where we can provide the most supportive care for our patients.

“These first-class wards will transform the way we are able to care for our patients and service users and I am extremely proud of how hard the Trust has worked over the last decade to get to this milestone, and that we are funding these developments ourselves.

“One person in four has a mental health condition during their life, so we truly welcome the opportunity to reduce the stigma of mental health conditions by bringing our services and our community together as one.”

Our Estate Modernisation Programme will bring to our local community a number of exciting new developments:

> World class mental health inpatient facilities: delivering the best care for our patients
> 839 brand new homes
> A 32-acre public park: providing excellent outdoor space including play areas for our local community
> Community shops and a café: for local residents to meet and relax
> Transformed healthcare for our community: treating people closer to their families and their home
> Land to be made available for a new school: investing in our children’s future
> More than £5million for new transport facilities: boosting transport links for local residents

The original hospital listed building, built in 1840, will no longer be used for patient care and instead will be redeveloped into new housing.

The Trust announced in January 2020 it had received government approval for its Full Business Case to begin work on the development, which enabled it to begin construction.

Early work took place on site in 2019 to create the infrastructure needed to begin construction of the new facilities.

The Trust will be working with Springfield and Tolworth Estate Partnership (STEP), a 50/50 partnership with Sir Robert McAlpine Capital Ventures Ltd and Kajima Partnerships.

The official breaking ground ceremony saw the first shovels of earth being dug by (left to right):

South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust Chair Ann Beasley, CBE
Mayor of Wandsworth Cllr Jane Cooper
South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust Current Chief Executive Vanessa Ford
Sir Robert McAlpine London Managing Director Paul Heather