Lambeth Council granted planning permission on Tuesday night for Evelina London’s children’s hospital to build an extension.
The new building will join the existing children’s hospital and is set to open in 2027.
The number of cared for children at Evelina London has doubled since the hospital opened in 2005 and there was a need for more space to keep up with the demand.
The facility will provide 100 beds across new wards with 20 critical care beds, more support space for families and staff and new operation theatres and interventional rooms.
Marian Ridley, director of Evelina London, said: “This is a huge step for us. It will allow us to continue with our exciting plans to grow the hospital into a world-leading centre of life-changing care for even more children, young people and their families.
“Without increasing our capacity, a significant proportion of children and young people would not be able to access specialist care, leading to delays to treatment, increased use of emergency care, and the potential for worse quality of life and long term outcomes.
“We are therefore very grateful to the council for their support, alongside our local community, patients and families who we consulted throughout the planning process.”
The building of the £376 million extension was contested by Historic England who argued that it would harm the view of Parliament from Westminster Bridge.
However, the council’s planning committee unanimously decided that the benefits of providing care to children far outweighed the cost.
Professor Ian Abbs, chief executive of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Our ambitious plan to expand Evelina London will make it one of the world’s leading children’s hospitals, and enable us to provide exceptional care to many more children and young people.
“This is just the beginning of an exciting journey for us, and we will continue to put patients and families at the heart of what we do.”
The next stage will be to develop plans for the building’s interior with the needs of patients and their families in mind.
Featured Image Credit: Evelina London Children’s Healthcare
