Visit to South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust

This week, our chief executive Daniel Elkeles visited South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust for the opening of Springfield Park. 

At 32 acres, it’s the largest public park to open in London since 2012 and is the centre piece of the regeneration of the trust's Victorian-era campus. Following its transformation, the trust's new Springfield Village, in Tooting, is now a vibrant community that includes:

🏥 state of the art outpatient and inpatient mental health facilities.
🏘️ more than 1,200 new homes.
🌳 community facilities and open spaces.

Daniel said: "This redevelopment shows the power of the NHS as an anchor institution. The trust's programme has facilitated over £1bn of investment in southwest London through this scheme including £280m in creating new hospitals, funded in part through sales of a derelict estate. The regeneration has been so much more than a building project with its mission to remove the stigma associated with mental health and create a fully inclusive community. For example, over 200 local residents and community members have now been trained as Mental Health First Aid Champions to raise mental health literacy and tackle stigma, and a small grant scheme for local communities using the park has been created. 

"As many of the speakers at the launch commented, including the Mayor of London (helping plant the 700th tree in the park) making this all happen is a testament to the leaders of the trust over many years.  They have persevered with the redevelopment managing the challenges along the way and have shared their learnings through with nearly 100 stakeholders and fellow NHS trusts through a dedicated tours programme.

"Let's hope going forward the 10-year plan will make this easier to pull off for others embarking on such a brilliant and ambitious re-imagining of how to deliver healthcare. 

"Thank you to chair Ann Beasley and chief executive Vanessa Ford for the invitation to such a great event."