The Whittington says its new unit will be part of the ‘most significant improvement to local birth facilities in a generation’

A HOSPITAL in Highgate has mapped out its plans to create one of the best places to give birth.
Just months after the Whittington’s maternity unit was apparently under threat of closure, designs for a brand new one were released on Wednesday. It includes en-suite facilities in every delivery room.

It was always highly unlikely that the Whit’s maternity service would be the one to be lost in a shake-up of provision in north London – as the one at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead was last year chosen for the axe instead.

Construction work on the new £60million maternity and neonatal unit at the Whit will begin later this year, with images of what it will look like being revealed in this week’s announcement.

The project has been described as the “most significant improvement to local birth facilities in a generation”.

It will include a new purpose-built neonatal intensive care unit.

Whittington chief executive Selina Douglas said: “These images show what the future will look like for people giving birth at the Whittington. More privacy, calmer spaces and facilities designed around care.”

The hospital will continue delivering babies and treating sick infants while the work is going on.

The first stage of the works will see the hospital’s chapel move from its current location adjacent to the maternity unit into the historic Jenner Building on the hospital site.

The Whittington has also received planning permission to build a new energy centre to replace its old boiler house – a move it says will increase its power capacity but also reduce carbon emissions by 80 per cent.

The excitement at the Whittington has contrasted with concerns among staff at the Royal Free, where a campaign to convince NHS chiefs not to close down its maternity unit, amid a falling birth rate, was unsuccessful.