A South London hospital is considering the establishment of a new centre for kidney patients as part of a significant overhaul. The proposed renal unit at St George’s Hospital, Tooting, could revolutionise kidney treatment for patients throughout South West London and Surrey if Wandsworth Council approves the plans.
The plan from St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (SGUH) would see renal services currently offered at both St George’s and St Helier Hospital, Sutton, relocated to the new unit. The proposed move aims to enhance care and dialysis services for kidney patients.
According to application documents, the two existing renal units, serving approximately 2.7 million people, have suffered from long-term underinvestment. This has resulted in the buildings being deemed ‘not fit for purpose’ and neither service operating as efficiently as it should.
The new renal unit would be constructed on a former car park at the hospital, known from the series 24 Hours in A&E, located southeast of the Atkinson Morley Wing. The six-storey building would house 89 beds across inpatient wards, including higher acuity beds, day care beds and bariatric beds.
It would also feature 24 acute dialysis stations, a surgical ward, offices and a courtyard garden with seating for staff and visitors, reports MyLondon.
Visualisation of the main hall at the proposed renal centre at St George’s Hospital, Tooting
(Image: BDP Architects/St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust)
The documents revealed: “The new specialist centre will bring expert staff together onto one site and help the trust to provide 24/7 care for kidney patients on long-term dialysis requiring inpatient care and for patients who need more complex care such as a kidney transplant.”
“Focusing specialist renal care in one location will also open up more opportunities for patients to take part in clinical trials, and for clinicians to gather more valuable data regarding effective treatments. The development of a purpose-built unit means that resources can be used more effectively and provide more patient beds and increase capacity for treatments.”
Council officers have backed the proposal for the scheme, following their assessment which concludes it would present significant and much-needed growth of essential healthcare services in Wandsworth. Wandsworth’s Planning Committee is set to make a definitive ruling on January 14.
The proposed developments are key components of the trust’s 2021-2031 estate strategy, aiming to renew existing structures at the hospital in an eight-phase project. With phase zero’s construction of a new intensive care unit already sanctioned by the council last August, the subsequent renal unit stands poised as phase one, pending council approval.
Dr James Marsh, group deputy chief executive for St George’s, Epsom and St Helier hospitals, said: “This is an exciting, once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve the quality of kidney care to people in South-West London and Surrey. Our proposal would bring together the best of our two excellent renal services in a state-of-the-art, purpose-built renal hospital at St George’s – to deliver the vast majority of care close to people’s homes.”