Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales, Patron of Evelina London Children's Hospital, visited the hospital on Monday 6 July to meet patients, families and staff, and learn more about Evelina London's ambitious plans to provide even better care for children and young people.
During the visit, The Princess met children receiving care and spent time speaking with families and members of staff about their experiences.
The Princess of Wales visited Evelina London to learn about the hospital's future plans and the expansion of its specialist children's services.
During the visit, she was briefed on Evelina London's long-term vision, including recent changes aimed at bringing more specialist children's services together at St. Thomas' Hospital.
The princess visited Edward Ward, the hospital's new children's cardiac ward, and Galaxy Outpatients, a dedicated area for children and young people attending heart clinics and diagnostic appointments. These child-friendly facilities are supporting the temporary transfer of children's heart, lung and critical care inpatient services from Royal Brompton Hospital.
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She also heard about plans for Evelina London to become the future provider of highly specialized children's cancer and blood and marrow transplant services for south London and much of southeast England. The new service will bring together specialist teams from The Royal Marsden, St. George's Hospital and Evelina London, allowing children to receive a wider range of expert care in one location.
Hospital staff explained that Evelina London's expansion plans will increase capacity for specialist treatment, diagnostic services, surgery and critical care. Since opening in 2005, demand for the hospital's services has tripled, with about 104,000 children and young people receiving care each year.
The team also shared plans for a new hospital building, which is expected to open in the early 2030s. They highlighted the important role of Evelina London Children's Charity in helping fund the expansion project.
Gubby Ayida, chief executive officer of Evelina London Women's and Children's Clinical Group, said the hospital was delighted to welcome the Princess of Wales. He said the visit provided an opportunity to share the hospital's vision for the future and demonstrate how specialist children's services are being brought together to provide the best possible care for children, young people and their families. He added that the expansion of heart, lung, intensive care and future cancer services would allow children to receive more of the specialist care they need in one location, benefiting families across London and beyond.
Mandy Sekhon, whose 3-year-old son, Arjun, met the princess during the visit, said it was an amazing experience. She said the princess was genuinely interested in why Arjun had been in the hospital for such a long time, asked about his progress and wanted to know how the family was coping.
Rob Halkyard, executive director of Evelina London Children's Charity, said the princess's visit was a great boost for staff, patients and supporters of the charity, whose contributions are helping make the hospital's expansion plans possible.
The Princess of Wales previously visited Evelina London in 2023 to officially open the Children's Day Surgery Unit at St. Thomas' Hospital. During her latest visit, she returned to see how the unit has developed and how it is now supporting a growing number of specialist children's services.
