Great Ormond Street Hospital redevelopment

01 August 2010

The team at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital treats one in 10 of the children diagnosed with cancer in the UK.

We have worked with them to support two major capital projects: the Paul O’Gorman Patient Hotel and the redevelopment and expansion of their oncology and haematology facilities.

Paul O’Gorman Patient Hotel

In recent years the Hospital has placed a growing emphasis on the development of its day care services so that children don’t need to be admitted unnecessarily.

This has great benefits for children being treated for cancer.

There are times during treatment when admission is necessary, but much of the treatment can be given on an outpatient basis.

The trips to and from hospital undoubtedly take up a great deal of time and energy, but they do not cause the same isolation and separation from family and friends that results from prolonged hospital admission.

The downside to this arrangement is that Great Ormond Street has a wide catchment area and many families have to travel significant distances for their appointments. This is where the Paul O’Gorman Patient Hotel comes in.

The Hotel is just across the road from the Hospital. It provides pleasant, comfortable accommodation for families traveling to London for outpatient appointments, allowing them to travel to London the afternoon before treatment, enjoy the comfort of the Hotel overnight and travel home the next day.

With rising patient numbers, the Hotel also frees up beds for those children who need to stay on the ward for medical rather than logistical reasons.

Many hundreds of children have stayed in the Hotel since it opened its doors in October 2004. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters we were able to contribute £2 million to this important initiative.

Redevelopment of facilities for children with cancer

In 2008 we completed our pledge to raise £2.4 million towards the much-needed expansion of the oncology and haematology facilities at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

The team at Great Ormond Street faced a sudden increase in the number of cancer patients referred to them following a reorganisation of care in London.

They now treat one in 10 of the children in the UK diagnosed with cancer.

To accommodate this increased demand and provide timely treatment in comfortable, appropriate surroundings, a complete expansion of the Hospital’s oncology and haematology facilities was urgently required.

Our funding supported two specific projects: redevelopment of Elephant Day Care, the haematology/oncology out-patient and day care facility; and the creation of a new 17-bed oncology ward to complement the 20 beds previously available.

The project was completed in 2008 and all of the new facilities are now fully operational. Staff can now treat their increasing number of patients in modern, spacious and comfortable surroundings.

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