Whipps Cross Hospital calls for residents to help design its future
Whipps Cross Hospital has launched a new group to find out what residents want from a redeveloped site.
Applications are now open for a small number of local people to join the Community Engagement Action Group, which will help make sure the public can shape the future of the ageing hospital and its surrounding land.
Barts Health NHS Trust and its partners published a vision for the future of the 100-year old site last year and are now embarking on drawing up more detailed plans.
The vision for the site is to secure a multi-million pound redevelopment that would make Whipps Cross a flagship campus offering the best care for generations to come.
Preliminary assessments suggest a brand new state-of-the-art hospital – complete with an A&E and maternity department and co-located with other health and care facilities - could be built on a fraction of the existing estate. This would release land for other uses, potentially including new homes for the community and staff.
Now the Trust wants to design its plans with local people, so is recruiting a panel of residents who have good links with their communities and are passionate about securing a bright future for the hospital.
Whipps Cross Redevelopment Director Alastair Finney said: “We’ll be doing lots over the coming months to get people’s views through regular dialogue, meetings, surveys, social media and more, but I want us to go further than that. That’s why we’re asking for a small number of passionate people to help us get the views not just of those who use Whipps Cross Hospital at the moment, but of those who know they will need to use the Hospital in the future. We are genuinely committed to local people working with us to influence the future of Whipps Cross. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity, so help us get it right!”
The group will help the Trust to gather the views of the community and ensure they’re a key part of the plans as they develop.
Applications for the Community Engagement Action Group are open until midday on 7 February and further details can be found at Future Whipps
If this group isn’t for you, but you’d still like to be involved, don’t miss out on the host of other opportunities coming your way by signing up to the Trust’s dedicated mailing list, also available on the website.