Published: Friday 20 November 2020
Residents can have their say now on new guidance which could safeguard the future of world class healthcare services at the Brompton Hospital in Chelsea.
Kensington and Chelsea Council has set out planning guidance which could influence the future of the site, helping to make sure it continues to be used for medical and healthcare purpose in the future. Residents can have their say in a consultation until 30 December 2020.
The guidance comes after councillors opposed NHS plans to merge the Brompton and St Guy and Thomas’s NHS Trusts. The NHS proposals sparked concern from residents and councillors that the specialist cardiac facilities could be lost from the area, negatively impacting the community and local economy. The hospital has provided lifesaving treatment and conducted ground-breaking research during the coronavirus pandemic.
Cllr Johnny Thalassites, Lead Member for Planning, said:
“We won’t entertain the threat of losing pioneering, lifesaving treatment and research in Chelsea. That’s why we have come up with principles to protect the site of the Brompton Hospital in the future, so that it stays a world-class healthcare centre.
“We’ve done the sums to make it work financially for the health service. If residents back these plans it will give us the tools in our armour to make sure the site continues to be used for healthcare, benefitting our future community and economy.”
Cllr Cem Kemahli, Lead Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, added:
“The Council is completely united, all parties back our residents in opposing the loss of an internationally outstanding hospital. Residents don’t want the Royal Brompton to leave the borough or be asset stripped.
“In light of the lifesaving work at the hospital during the pandemic I call for the merger with Guys and St Thomas’s to be delayed and reconsidered. The hospital needs to put minds at ease by carrying out a through, inclusive consultation before the merger starts and committing to remaining in Chelsea and providing a full range of world class services for decades to come, not just some services for the next 10 years and then more uncertainty.”
The plans set out five principles which future developers would have to adhere to:
- Retain and enhance the world class medical facilities
- Demonstrate how any development required to retain the facilities complements its medical uses
- Protects the historic local environment with high quality design
- Upgrade connections and local urban spaces
- Meet the council’s environmental requirements: improving air quality, boosting biodiversity and contributing to Vision Carbon Zero – the Council’s ambition for a carbon neutral borough by 2040.
To take part in the consultation and read the documents in full visit our planning consultation portal.