Artist’s impression of how the entrance to the proposed new neonatal wing of the Whittington might look

THE Whittington Hospital is due a major upgrade that will “transform the experience of families” welcoming newborns, according to plans lodged with the Town Hall.

The Archway hospital hopes to expand its neonatal and maternity wing in an £80million project to modernise the NHS service. The NHS trust hopes to increase babies delivered each year from 3,600 to 4,000.

“It’s a big, big project,” said Jonathan Gardner, the Whittington’s director of strategy. “But it’s not that we’ve got a huge mountain to climb – we already have £13.5million approved from our board to start on the journey.”

Artist drawing of the labour ward extension

If plans are approved by the Town Hall, the Whittington will undergo a phased build that will see some buildings refurbished, others demolished, and new blocks built over five to seven years.

“We’re putting in a brand-new maternity and neonatal wing – completely gutting and redoing the whole building,” Mr Gardner said.

“It will have state-of-the-art neonatal facilities; it will have ensuite facilities for all women in labour; it will have a new bereavement suite.

“Our neonatal unit is squeezed at the moment within the confines of the building. Our new neonatal unit will be much bigger.”

The entrance will be extended and a new family unit will be added to allow for overnight stays, along with a community group space women can use before, during and after birth.

Jonathan Gardner. Photo: Whittington Hospital

On top of these changes, the building’s layout will be reorganised, with daycare on the lower-ground floors and labour wards on the floors above. A landscaping project will see the hospital’s gardens redesigned to provide “as much greenery as possible.”

Planning documents say Whittington neonatal services are currently “operating out of a mix of building stock which is not representative of modern healthcare… they are no longer fit for purpose.”

Mr Gardner said the build was about matching the quality of care with the quality of the buildings, adding: “We currently have amazing staff giving incredible care. But unfortunately, our facilities just don’t match that.”

The maternity and neonatal buildings started life as the Highgate Hill Workhouse Infirmary, opened in 1900 by the Duke and Duchess of York. Over the years, the service was extended hastily in “weird” ways. This means the current building has ended up as a mismatched patchwork of different architectural styles.

Planning documents say the new buildings will be “playful”, acting as a “celebration of birth”.