St Helier Hospital is the largest hospital in our Trust and shares the site with our dedicated children's hospital, Queen Mary's Hospital for Children.
St Helier is home to a busy 24-hour accident and emergency department which sees 80,000 attendances every year, a newly refurbished maternity unit which includes our home-from-home birth centre, and a comprehensive range of diagnostic facilities within pathology and radiology (including MRI and CT scanning, ultrasound and vascular diagnostic services).
It is also home to our state-of-the-art endoscopy unit (where patients' digestive and respiratory systems are examined using fibre optic cameras), which recently underwent a £1.4 million refurbishment.
All emergency surgery in the Trust is performed at St Helier.
The award winning South West Thames Renal and Transplantation is also on site and supports eight renal satellite units across the region.
Looking to the future
This is a very exciting time for St Helier, with plans for the £219 million redevelopment of the hospital now well and truly underway.
History of St Helier Hospital
St Helier has a rich history, starting in 1938 when Queen Mary laid the first foundation stone at the site.
The first patients were admitted in 1941 and the building was completed in 1942. The cost of the rent at the time was just £1 a year.
Sadly, less than a month after completion, the hospital was damaged by a bomb dropped during an air raid in World War Two.
Further damage was caused throughout the war, and the hospital was struck by two flying bombs in June 1944.
However, St Helier remained open and continued to grow after the War.
In 1974, St Helier Hospital accommodated the first kidney transplant: a 24-year-old man had an operation at the hospital where he received a kidney from his sister.
In 1977, the A&E department was opened for the first time following an investment of £200,000.
St Helier Hospital has also played host to royalty in the past. During the hospital's Jubilee year in 1963, the Queen Mother visited the hospital to give nursing awards to staff. In 1987, the Princess of Wales officially opened the new maternity unit.
Appeal for memories of St Helier
Ahead of the £219 million redevelopment of St Helier, we're collecting memories and artifacts from years gone by at the hospital.
If you would like to take part in the appeal and have memories about the hospital that you would like to share, please let us know by emailing communication@esth.nhs.uk or by calling the communications and corporate affairs team on 020 8296 2406.
Photos saved electronically can be sent to the same email address, or alternatively you can send hard copies to:
St Helier Hospital memories
c/o Communications Team
St Helier Hospital
Wrythe Lane
Carshalton
Surrey SM5 1AA
An address will need to be included if you would like your photos to be returned after the exhibition has finished. Please state clearly if you are happy to donate your photographs to the hospital archives; any donations will not be returned.
