South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust today announced the start of Tolworth Hospital’s £110m redevelopment.
Patients, carers, NHS staff and leaders from across the region came together in Kingston, South West London, to celebrate the milestone at a special ‘Groundbreaking Ceremony’.
The two-and-a-half-year build represents the final part of the Trust’s ‘Better Environments Programme’, which has already delivered the £150m redevelopment of Springfield Hospital in Wandsworth, opened in 2023. The Programme will also see redevelopments at Barnes Hospital and Richmond Royal in South West London.
Ava and Howard Mintz, members of the Trust’s Patient and Carer Involvement Network, said, “It has been wonderful to come together today to celebrate all that this new hospital will mean for our community.
“We have been privileged to witness first-hand how the Trust has embraced input from patients and carers in planning these new facilities through co-production and co-design. We hope our contributions will pave the way for a brighter future at Tolworth and we are excited to see a modern, welcoming and therapeutic environment take shape here in the years to come.”
Tolworth Hospital’s redevelopment will deliver a new five-ward hospital building, providing state-of-the-art accommodation for a number of existing mental health wards, which will relocate from older buildings at Springfield Hospital. From late 2027 a total of seven acute, older persons and specialist wards will be based at Tolworth, alongside a range of outpatient services, rebalancing provision across the Trust’s two major inpatient sites.
As part of the build, Tolworth will also be opened up, with new and improved landscaping, access routes, a central plaza and a café, helping to break mental health stigma and integrate the site into the community.
Wider improvements will also play an important role in boosting the Trust’s commitment to Net Zero. Last week it was announced that Tolworth Hospital has been awarded nearly £300,000 to fund the installation of solar panels as part of a new £100m Government programme to support the uptake of solar energy systems across the NHS.
Director of the Trust’s Better Communities Programme, Ian Garlington, said: “We are thrilled to be moving ahead with the redevelopment of Tolworth Hospital and we want to say a huge thank you all our patients, carers, staff and our wider community who have supported our journey.
“Our Better Communities and Better Environments programmes are transforming not only the care we provide to our patients, but also the communities around us.
“Overall, our Trust is supporting a £1bn investment in healthcare and urban development, creating an inclusive new landscape for mental healthcare that breaks mental health stigma, empowers patients, supports Net Zero, and brings our services closer to the people we serve.”
Sales of the Trust’s derelict estate in South West London have enabled it to self-fund the new hospital builds at Springfield and Tolworth, whilst also supporting significant regeneration across the region under the Trust’s wider Better Communities programme.
At Springfield, a new ‘Springfield Village’ is now co-located with the hospital, comprising a new 32-acre park, a public square, shops, cafes, a care home and over 1,200 new homes built up to 2027. Of these, the latest development of 449 homes will provide a rate of 50% affordable for the community.
Project Lead for the Trust’s development partner STEP (a joint venture between Sir Robert McAlpine Capital Ventures and Kajima Partnerships), Harriet Gladwell-Phillips, said: “STEP and our main contractor Sir Robert McAlpine are delighted to be continuing our partnership with South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust.
“Building on our productive working relationship and collective achievements at the Springfield site over the last six years, we are now excited to be delivering the new facilities at Tolworth Hospital. The whole team is proud to support the Trust’s Better Environments Programme making a tangible impact to the mental health of local communities.”
The Trust now looks forward to the opening of the refurbished Richmond Royal Wellbeing Centre in May and the start of the £15m redevelopment of Barnes Hospital for delivery in late 2026.
