Nuffield Health is due to open its £65m facility beside St Bartholomew’s hospital in mid-March
(Picture: Handout)A private hospital has been built on a disused part of the country’s oldest hospital - with the annual rent helping to fund the NHS.
Nuffield Health is due to open its £65m facility beside St Bartholomew’s hospital in mid-March, generating “multi-million pound revenue” for Barts Health NHS Trust under a 30-year lease.
The old pathology building at St Bart’s has been converted into an in-patient unit with two hybrid cardiac theatres and two general theatres, while the former staff quarters have been turned into an outpatients facility, including an oncology suite.
The new hospital has 55 beds, including seven critical care beds, and will specialise in cardiology, cardiac surgery and orthopaedics - drawing many consultants from Barts Heart Centre, which opened in 2015 at St Bartholomew’s, outside of their NHS work.
The site is steeped in history. St Bartholomew’s celebrates its 900th anniversary next year, and the demolition unearthed archaeology of interest to the Museum of London, including a trench indicating the furthest point of the Great Fire of London.
Only the facade of the pathology building, in Giltspur Street, was in a good enough condition to be retained. Its rear walls, which back onto St Bartholomew’s central square, were rebuilt in Portland stone to original designs.
The pathology building became a shrine to Sherlock fans when the fictional detective, played by Benedict Cumberbatch in the BBC TV drama, faked his death in a leap from the rooftop in 2012.
It is the first Nuffield hospital in London and will offer rehab at its sports centres. The aim is for a “connected pathway” from symptoms to rehabilitation.
The cardiac care will look to build upon diagnostic advances that enable cardiology interventions such as stenting and ablations to avoid the need for heart bypass surgery.
The hospital is equipped with MRI and CT scanners, ultrasound, echocardiogram and X-ray machines.
There are also “see and treat” consulting rooms for colorectal, gynaecological and prostate conditions and breast screening.
Nuffield Health is the UK’s largest healthcare charity. About 15 cardiac surgeons and 43 radiologists from Barts have already signed up.
Jon Canham, a former nurse who is Nuffield Health’s business development director, said: “Quite a few consultants who have decided to come and work with us have never done private work before. They’re starting their private career with us, because of (a) the location and (b) the fact we are a charity and not for profit.”
About 70 per cent of patients are expected to be funded via health insurance, with the remainder paying for their care.
The post-op recovery room has views of St Paul’s Cathedral. Anthony Fitzgerald, the hospital matron, said: “We try to create a feeling between hotel and hospital.”
