St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and St George’s, University of London will co-host a Community Open Day at their shared main site in Tooting on Saturday 13th October.

The day, which will run from 10.00 to 15.00hrs, offers visitors the chance to gain an insight into the work of a busy NHS teaching hospital and a university focused on health professional training and research. Visitors will learn about the science of the human body and some of the cutting-edge research conducted at St George’s. There will also be information about healthcare and medical education and career opportunities, as well as a variety of family fun activities. The day is free to attend.

Visitors will be able to explore the work of a number of the hospital’s departments, including neurosciences, cancer and maternity services. Guided tours will allow visitors to trace the history of St George’s, explore an operating theatre and learn how CT scanning produces 3D images. Advanced booking for tours is advised as spaces are limited.

This is the second Community Open Day to be hosted by St George’s. Last year’s inaugural event attracted around 2,000 visitors.

Miles Scott, chief executive, St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The trust and university have a shared history of almost 300 years, and I am excited to be inviting our community in to find out about our work in this fun, interactive way for the second time.”

Professor Peter Kopelman, Principal of St George’s, University of London: “The day offers something for every age and provides an excellent opportunity to promote the science, healthcare training and the leading research that is taking place at St George’s in Tooting.”

A full programme for the day and details on tour bookings can be found on the trust’s website

Notes to editors

High resolution images available on request.

For more information, please contact the Communications Unit on 020 8725 5151 or email: communications@stgeorges.nhs.uk. Outside working hours, please page us by calling 0844 822 2888, leaving a short message and contact details for pager SG548.

About St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust

  • St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest healthcare providers in southwest London. Its main site, St George’s Hospital in Tooting – one of the country’s principal teaching hospitals – is shared with St George’s, University of London, which trains medical students and carries out advanced medical research. As well as acute hospital services, the trust provides a wide variety of specialist and community hospital based care and a full range of community services to children, adults, older people and people with learning disabilities. These services are provided from Queen Mary’s Hospital, Roehampton, 11 health centres and clinics, schools and nurseries, patients’ homes and Wandsworth Prison.
  • St George’s Hospital, Tooting, is one of London’s four major trauma centres. In 2011/12 the emergency department at St George’s Hospital treated an average 447 patients each day, with 95.06 per cent of patients being admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours.
  • St George’s Hospital is one of eight hyper acute stroke units in London. The trust’s stroke services were rated as the best in the country by the National Sentinel Audit 2010, and in the top four in 2011.
  • St George’s Hospital has one of the biggest and busiest of the eight heart attack centres in London. The heart attack centre at St George’s Hospital was rated as having the best response rate for treating heart attack patients in London in the 2012 Myocardial Ischaemia National Audit Project (MINAP).
  • The trust is an accredited centre of excellence for trauma, neurology, cardiology and cancer services, and the national centre for family HIV care and bone marrow transplantation for non-cancer diseases.

About St George’s, University of London

  • St George’s, University of London (SGUL), established in 1733, is distinctive as the UK’s only independent medical and healthcare higher education institution. It benefits from strong links with the healthcare profession, including a shared site with St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in Tooting, south west London.
  • SGUL is dedicated to the education and training of doctors, nurses, midwives, physician’s assistants, paramedics, physiotherapists, radiographers, social workers, healthcare and biomedical scientists. It attracts around 6,000 students, some of whom are taught in conjunction with Kingston University.
  • Research at SGUL has a UK and international focus and aims to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease in areas including infection and immunity, heart disease and stroke, and cell signalling. It also aims to enhance understanding of public health and epidemiology, clinical genetics, and social care sciences. www.sgul.ac.uk