Care system Public NHS Affiliated university None Founded 1948 | Hospital type District General Phone +44 845 111 4000 Number of beds 509 | |
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Location Gordon Hill, London, England, United Kingdom Emergency department No Accident & Emergency Address 127 The Ridgeway, Enfield EN2 8JL, UK | ||
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Chase Farm Hospital is a hospital in Gordon Hill, near Enfield, north London, run by the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust as part of the British National Health Service.
Contents
Chase farm hospital redevelopment
History
The oldest part of the hospital (the "clock tower" building) was formerly part of a children's home. Newer buildings on the site include the Highlands Block, built in part replacement of the local Highlands Hospital which closed in 1993. In 1999 the hospital became part of the Barnet and Chase Farm NHS Hospitals Trust.
Facilities
Apart from the acute hospital, the grounds also contain a general adult mental health unit managed by Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust, Chase Village (a home for the mentally handicapped and mentally ill), Kings Oak private hospital, a medium-secure psychiatric unit, and services by Enfield Primary Care NHS Trust. The site contains the North London Forensic Service, the forensic psychiatric service covering most of north London (also part of the Barnet Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust) and Radio Enfield. Some of the land is also being developed by builders as new homes. A new low-secure psychiatric unit is proposed and work is due to start in 2015 if approved by the local planning committee.
Closure of Maternity and A&E units
A public consultation was carried out during 2007 on reorganising services between Chase Farm Hospital and Barnet Hospital. One option would have transformed Chase Farm to a 'community hospital' with inpatient and major emergency care transferred to Barnet. The other option concentrated on planned care at Chase Farm, with maternity and other services concentrated at Barnet. The proposals were intended to maximise clinical effectiveness given limited human and financial resources; however, they also predicated a substantial investment in community health provision (which never came to pass). The local NHS Primary Care Trusts determined at the end of this consultation (which had only a 2% response rate from the local population) to proceed with 'Option 2'.
Two candidates, Catherine Wilkinson and Kieran McGregor, for the "Save Chase Farm" movement were elected to the local council in the local elections of May 2006. They however lost their seats in the 2010 election. The Accident and Emergency Department at Chase Farm Hospital closed on 9 December 2013 following the determination of the Barnet, Enfield and Haringey strategy.
Following the dismissal of Enfield Council's judicial review request, the maternity and accident & emergency (A&E) units at Chase Farm Hospital closed in mid-November and on 9 December 2013 respectively.
Since 2014 the hospital has been part of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. The Trust discovered a large backlog of patients waiting for elective treatment that year. By April 2015 the trust had reviewed 7,174 patients who have now received treatment. The review concluded that one patient “may have experienced serious harm” and 39 patients had “potentially” suffered “moderate harm”, and 68 patients may have suffered “low harm”. 1,541 patients were sent to private providers since July 2014, predominately for endoscopy and ear, nose and throat treatments.
There are now proposals to build a new hospital. Most of the existing buildings, except the Highlands Wing and part of the Clock Tower building, will be demolished and the land that is not required for the new hospital or for retention for future healthcare purposes would be sold for housing and a school if planning permission is granted.