Whipps Cross site to be sold

Whipps to sell land

I sometimes wonder what it must be like to be the Site Manager for Whipps Cross Hospital. The NHS managers never seem to be able to get a decision to stick and be implemented. About 20 years ago they were going to demolish the old Victorian buildings and rebuild the hospital at the back of the site and sell the rest for housing. 

Before it was implemented the plan changed to becoming part of the South Bank University and use the land to build a new Campus. Meanwhile the old Nurses home was closed but never demolished. The laundry was to transfer to the new unit at St George's but the existing one still seems to be operational.

Next it would all be moved to Romford and the site sold for housing. Then the old wards had double glazing added which at the time I thought was a waste of money,but is probably getting to the stage where it now needs to be replaced!

Then a grand plan for a new power network based on a new boiler house. Huge new pipes were installed around the site but the boilers were never commissioned so what went wrong there!

A&E was rebuilt as a much larger unit and it became part of the Barts Health Trust which now apparently has no money so the land will be sold for housing! Talk about what goes round comes round! I wonder how this story will have developed in the next  5 years!

Meanwhile the hospital provides a pretty good service, in my experience, in buildings that are are well over 100 years old! Huge congratulations to the building managers who somehow keep the whole show on the road!