Heatherwood Hospital

File: Ascot - Heatherwood Hospital - geograph.org.uk - 5470807.jpg

The hospital is located near the site of a former hospital that has its origins in a Victorian country residence known as "Heatherfield" built in 1876, possibly for the Farrar family (whose motto 'Ferre va Ferme' appears over the front door). It was in the ownership of the Ponsonby family between 1881 and 1891, when the Hon. Ashley Ponsonby, a Justice of the Peace and cousin of Sir Henry Ponsonby, Equerry to Queen Victoria, and his family had their country seat there.{{cite web|url= https://wellcomelibrary.org/moh/report/b20057088/4#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=4|year=1890|title= Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Westminster, The United Parishes of St. Margaret and St. John, Westminster|accessdate=14 August 2018}}{{efn|On 28 January 1891, Claude Ashley Charles Ponsonby, Ashley Ponsonby's son, married Miss Haller Gross Horwitz of Baltimore in the USA at All Saints church in Ascot. Claude's brother Eustace was the best man. The church was "crowded with representatives of a number of the most aristocratic English families and was handsomely decorated with palms and lilies of the valley". After the wedding, the bride's mother Mrs Horwitz "...gave a dejeuner at Heatherfield, which was largely attended".New York Times, 29 January 1891}}

By 1900 the estate was known as Heatherwood and had been acquired by Sir Thomas Lucas, Bt., the son of Thomas Lucas, one of the founders of Lucas Brothers, the builders.Marriages: "Sir Thomas Lucas Bt. of 12a Kensington Palace-gardens, and Heatherwood, Ascot....", The Times, 27 October 1900 The estate was offered for sale at auction by Messers Chancellor and Sons in 1906, but initially failed to find a purchaser.The Times, The Estate Market, 1906 The house and estate was eventually acquired by the United Services Fund (possibly in 1919 when the estate was again offered for sale at auctionThe Times, 21 November 1919 but more likely in 1920 when it was sold by private treaty by Hamptons).The Times, The Estate Market, 4 February 1920

The United Services Fund converted the building into a hospital for the children of ex-servicemen from the First World War. Patients were admitted from 1922 and the new hospital was officially opened by the Duke of Connaught in May 1923.{{cite web|url= http://www.heatherwoodhistory.org.uk/hospital01.html|title=A brief history of Heatherwood Hospital|publisher=League of Friends Heritage Group|accessdate=14 August 2018}} The new facility specialised in the treatment of children suffering from tuberculosis and orthopaedic diseases. The hospital joined the National Health Service in 1948 and new accident and emergency, out-patient, physiotherapy and hydrotherapy facilities were opened by the Princess Royal in 1961. A new maternity department opened in 1972 and a new mental health and elderly health unit was opened by Princess Anne in 1988.

Following cut-backs, the birth unit closed in September 2011{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-16764712|title= Heatherwood hospital birth unit is closed indefinitely|date=27 January 2012|publisher=BBC|accessdate=14 August 2018}} and the minor injuries unit closed in January 2014.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-23180469|title= Berkshire councils row over Heatherwood Hospital future|date=4 July 2013|publisher=BBC|accessdate=14 August 2018}}

Plans to demolish the former hospital were announced in 2016.{{cite web |last1=Crouch |first1=Hannah |title=Plans tabled for £72m demolition and rebuild of Heatherwood Hospital |url=https://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/news/ascot/82798/Plans-tabled-for--72m-demolition.html |access-date=31 March 2025 |date=25 March 2016}} Approval for a development of 230 homes to replace the site was announced in 2022.{{cite news |title=New homes finally approved on former Heatherwood Hospital site. |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-berkshire-60647696}}

The present hospital first opened its doors to patients on 28 March 2022,{{cite web |last1=Bagley |first1=James |title=New Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot officially opens |url=https://www.sloughobserver.co.uk/news/20026678.new-heatherwood-hospital-ascot-officially-opens/ |website=Slough Observer |access-date=28 March 2025 |date=28 March 2022}} and officially opened by the Sophie, Countess of Wessex on 19 January 2023.{{cite web |last1=Bottomley |first1=Shay |title=Countess of Wessex officially opens Heatherwood Hospital |url=https://www.sloughexpress.co.uk/news/ascot-and-sunningdale/183195/countess-of-wessex-officially-opens-heatherwood-hospital.html |website=Slough Express |access-date=28 March 2025 |date=20 January 2023}}

A report published by the Care Quality Commission in 2024 found that in a survey of 63,573 patients in England who stayed one night or more in a hospital during November 2023, inpatients of the hospital reported the highest average score for overall patient satisfaction in England.{{cite web |last1=Leech |first1=Sam |title=Hospital in Royal Borough is England's best elective care centre, NHS survey finds |url=https://www.sloughexpress.co.uk/news/health/198966/hospital-in-royal-borough-is-england-s-best-elective-care-centre-nhs-survey-finds.html |website=Slough Express |access-date=30 March 2025 |date=12 November 2024}}

In 2024, the radiography team of the hospital's MRI facility, alongside the relevant team at Wexham Park Hospital who are also employed by the trust, submitted a collective grievance statement through the trade union GMB expressing concern over plans to subcontract additional MRI services to a private third party. They said it would introduce friction and an unfriendly work environment by fragmenting the workforce outside the NHS, and referred to previous attempts of clinical outsourcing as directing money to pay directors higher wages. The trust said the plans would not affect the employment arrangements of staff.{{cite web |last1=Leech |first1=Sam |title=Wexham Park and Heatherwood Hospital MRI teams object to privatisation plans |url=https://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/news/health/197790/wexham-park-and-heatherwood-hospital-mri-teams-object-to-privatisation-plans.html |website=Maidenhead Advertiser |access-date=30 March 2025 |date=21 August 2024}}

The hospital is dedicated to planned care (non-emergency treatment). It has 6 operating theatres, 48 inpatient beds, and 22 day-case units.

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• [https://www.fhft.nhs.uk/your-hospitals/heatherwood/ Heatherwood Hospital]
• [https://www.heatherwoodhistory.org.uk/index.html Heatherwood Hospital History]

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Category:Hospital buildings completed in 1922

Category:Hospital buildings completed in 2022

Category:Hospitals in Berkshire

Category:NHS hospitals in England

Category:Sunninghill and Ascot

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