Following World Mental Health Day, Richmond MPs, Sarah Olney and Munira Wilson, visited South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust (SWLSTG) on Monday this week to tour its services and learn more about the progress made developing new facilities at Springfield University Hospital, which are set to open 12 months from now.
‘Springfield Village’ is currently under construction, as the Trust and its partners develop a new community in south west London. Overall, the development will see the delivery of over 800 new homes, a new 32-acre park, and two modern mental health facilities, providing the best environment for patients to recover.
Commenting, Munira Wilson said: “With Springfield providing critical services for my constituents, and in my capacity as the Liberal Democrats’ Health and Social Care spokesperson, it was a privilege to see both the current Bluebell ward where the specialist National Deaf Service is provided, and the new Bluebell ward which will be completed next year. This modern state of the art facility will be transformative in terms of the expert care patients receive from the fantastic and dedicated staff.
“Mental health must be treated on a par with physical health. This ambitious and visionary project is a very encouraging step in the right direction for residents in South West London who need to access acute mental health facilities.
“Thank you to all the team involved in the project and the hard-working frontline staff who have kept services going through the pandemic. I look forward to seeing the new facilities once they have been completed.”
As part of a wider programme of investment, the Trust is also progressing the regeneration of Tolworth Hospital in Kingston and Barnes Hospital in Richmond.
Commenting on the visit, Ian Garlington, Integrated Programme Director for the Trust said, “It has been a pleasure to welcome our local MPs back to Springfield to help them learn about the transformative work happening across our Trust to deliver new facilities and environments for our community.”
“Our new buildings will be home to a range of services and will deliver care to people referred to our Trust from across south west London. Scheduled for completion in just 12 months’ time, these facilities represent years of planning and hard work, and input from not just our staff, but people across our communities through over 400 consultations.”
“As we look towards modernising other areas of our estate including Barnes Hospital in Richmond and Tolworth Hospital in Kingston, we are excited about the potential that Springfield Village has to transform how we deliver care”.
The tour involved a visit to some of the new residential units, as well as the Trust’s two new mental health facilities, Trinity and Shaftesbury Building. The group also visited the Trust’s National Deaf Service on Bluebell Ward, meeting staff and finding out more about the specialist care provided.
Vanessa Ford, Chief Executive of South West London and St George’s said, “Our Trust’s vision is to make life better together for people across our communities and the innovations we are bringing forward are central to this.”
“We are committed in our role as an anchor institution, adding value beyond the services we provide in our communities. In 2023 we will see the opening of the first part of a new 32-acre park for south west London, and in a year’s time we will be moving into our new facilities. I’m really proud of our Trust and the care that we provide and ultimately these new buildings will help further improve the lives of our patients, carers and anyone who comes into contact with, or works in our services.”
“A huge thank you Sarah Olney and Munira Wilson for joining us this week to find out more about the developments happening at Springfield and engaging with our vision for local mental health services.”