The chief executive of a hospital has slammed the facilities at Chase Farm Hospital - and says he plans a major rebuild of the site.
The Royal Free London NHS Trust, which took over Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals trust on July 1, will set up plans to comprehensively rebuild the site, according to its CEO David Sloman.
Stakeholder group members this week trust directors, local MPs, councillors and local commissioning groups to discuss the Chase Farm site, in The Ridgeway, Enfield on Monday.
Speaking to the Enfield Independent, Mr Sloman condemned the facilities at the Enfield hospital, which he described as ‘not fit for purpose'.
He said: “Chase Farm is in terrible condition and the quality of the site is abysmal. Buildings are far too spaced out and many of them have been left to ruin.
“The hospital is not fit for purpose and not up to the standards of a 21st Century hospital. We have people queuing outside in the rain for some wards and that is not good enough.
Mr Sloman said plans would not be going to Enfield Borough Council planning committee until November this year.
He added: “We are planning a major rebuilding of the hospital that we hope to complete by 2018, which is ambitious but we hope the will bring excellent care to Enfield.
“I think there has been a continued blight over the years because people have failed to commit to improvement until the Barnet, Enfield and Haringey strategy was sorted.”
Enfield North MP Nick de Bois, who attended the meeting, said: “I am pleased that substantial modernising of the hospital is planned.
“The funding in place from the government and any land sale proceeds is rightly being ploughed back into Chase Farm, but of equal importance, by also improving access to primary care in the community.
“We need this work to happen sooner rather than later so residents can have confidence that the Royal Free will deliver on their promise.”
The redevelopment is set to cost more than £100 million and the Royal Free has also absorbed the historical £16.9million debts.
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