North Middlesex Hospital

The North Middlesex Hospital, known locally as North Mid, is a District General Hospital (DGH) in Edmonton, in the London Borough of Enfield. It is also 5 minutes walk and located near Silver Street Station.

The hospital is run by the North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust, led by ^[1] John Carrier, Chairman and Elizabeth McManus, Chief Executive Officer, supported by full-time Executive Directors and part-time independent Non-Executive Directors.

In July 2016 David Sloman, the Chief Executive of Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust took over as “interim accountable officer” at North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust as part of the Royal Free’s hospital chain project. ^[2]

History

As with many hospitals in the United Kingdom, the North Mid began life as a workhouse in 1840. The workhouse, built on land previously known as Langhedge Field, received its first inmates, totalling 400 men and women, in 1842. Children in the area were sent to the Chase Farm Schools Institution, later to become Chase Farm Hospital.

More land was added to the site as demand for pauper accommodation rose, and the need became clear for a separate building to treat the sick. In 1907, an Infirmary Building Committee was established with a view to constructing a large hospital. The hospital officially opened on 25 July 1910, and was separated from the workhouse itself by an iron fence, although the two shared a common gate, which still stands today.

In 1915 the complex was handed over to the military for use as a military hospital, known as Edmonton Military Hospital. Following its transfer back into civilian hands in 1920, the hospital took on its current name, the North Middlesex Hospital.

Control changed hands from the Edmonton Board of Guardians to Middlesex County Council in April 1930. In 1938, the workhouse closed (with inmates being transferred to Chase Farm) and its buildings were made available to the hospital.

During the Second World War, six high explosive bombs fell on the site, damaging several buildings. Gracie Fields house, The Towers, was used as a Maternity annex even after the end the war.

Upon the establishment of the National Health Service in 1948, Southgate Isolation Hospital became an annexe of the North Middlesex and was renamed Greentrees Hospital.^[3] The accident and emergency department opened in 1955, having been built on the bombed section of the site. The outpatents department was added in 1960,and officially opened by Princess Margaret. A Psychiatric Unit was added at some date during the 1960s

Part of the hospital site was cleared to make way for the expansion of the North Circular Road in 1973, with the Watermill Lane site being added to the hospital grounds to compensate. Construction of the buildings there was completed the following year. Additions in the 1980s include the pathology laboratories in 1982, a new car park, boilderhouse and estates offices in 1987, and the Pymmes Building (housing four elderly care wards) in 1988, coinciding with the closure of Greentrees Hospital.

Temporary operating theatres (theatres 3 and 4) were constructed in 1991 and 1992. In 1997 and again in 1999, parts of the hospital site were sold off for development, to raise funds for the refurbishment of the remaining facilities. As a result, the accident and emergency department was refitted in 1999. In 2000, an NHS Walk-in centre was added. The Care of the Elderly department transferred their 'Day Hospital' from St Ann's hospital to the 'Pymmes' building in 2007 to allow greater continuity of care.

The hospital opened its £123 million development in 2010 with a new diagnostic centre, 5 inpatient wards, 8 operating theatres, a spacious outpatients and an Accident & Emergency department.^[4]

Further investment took place in 2013/14 to build a new Women's and Children's Centre and to refurbish the Tower Block to accommodate the additional patients as a result of the Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Clinical Strategy. The new W&C Centre opened on 20 November 2013 and the Tower Block refurbishment will be complete in phases, starting from mid-December 2013.

Performance

The Trust did poorly in the last cancer patient experience survey of 2015/6 and has agreed to pair up with South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, which did very well, in a scheme intended to “spread and accelerate innovative practice via peer to peer support and learning”.^[5]

11 trainee anaesthetists withdrawn from the trust by Health Education England in September 2015 because they were not receiving adequate supervision. The General Medical Council had been raising concerns since 2009.^[6]

In the last quarter of 2015 it had one of the worst performances of any hospital in England against the four hour waiting target ^[7] and in January it was the worst, seeing just 66.4% of A&E patients within 4 hours.^[8]

It was ordered by the Care Quality Commission in June 2016 to improve the performance of its Accident and Emergency Department. Their inspectors "found there were delays in the initial assessment of patients, in their assessment by a doctor and in moving them to specialist wards and that there were insufficient middle grade doctors and consultants.”^[9]

See also

• Healthcare in London
• List of hospitals in England
• List of NHS trusts

References

Coordinates: 51°36′52″N 0°04′26″W / 51.6145°N 0.07379°W / 51.6145; -0.07379