Home > News > Temporary relocation planning for women’s health services at St Helier Hospital

Published: 26 Jun 2026

We are in the early stages of planning for the temporary relocation of services from the Women’s Health block at St Helier Hospital from spring 2027.

While the building is currently safe to use, specialist advice has identified that the ageing pipework serving the block will need to be replaced. The building’s water system is being carefully managed, with filters in place and regular testing confirming it is safe for patients, visitors and colleagues. However, these measures are not a permanent solution, and replacing the pipework is the safest long-term option.

Unfortunately, the work cannot be carried out while clinical services continue to operate in the building. Planning is therefore underway to temporarily relocate services while essential infrastructure work takes place.

No decisions have yet been made about where individual services will be located. Our aim is to keep as many services as possible at St Helier Hospital. Where this is not possible, we will work closely with colleagues, patients, local communities, partners and the South West London Integrated Care Board to identify the best temporary arrangements.

We are committed to keeping patients, colleagues and our communities informed and involved throughout the planning process, and further updates will be shared as decisions are made.

 

FAQs

 

Is the water at St Helier’s Women’s Health services currently safe? 

  • Yes – the current mitigations in place to ensure the safety of our water including those recommended by external experts are effective, with monitoring and regular testing taking place. There have not been any clinical infections associated with the water.
  • However, the mitigations do not provide a long-term solution, meaning we cannot guarantee water safety in the long term.

How do you know it is safe, what are you doing now to make sure it is?

  • Yes – the current mitigations in place to ensure the safety of our water including those recommended by external experts are effective, with monitoring and regular testing taking place. There have not been any clinical infections associated with the water.
  • However, the mitigations do not provide a long-term solution, meaning we cannot guarantee water safety in the future.
  • The safety of our patients and colleagues is our absolute priority, and as soon as we received the results of routine testing, we acted immediately to put precautionary measures in place.
  • There is no evidence of infections or harm, and the risk remains low.
  • We are working at pace to resolve the issue as quickly, safely and effectively as possible.

How can you be sure babies weren’t harmed?

  • Yes – the current mitigations in place to ensure the safety of our water including those recommended by external experts are effective, with monitoring and regular testing taking place. There have not been any clinical infections associated with the water.
  • However, the mitigations do not provide a long-term solution, meaning we cannot guarantee water safety in the long-term.
  • All samples from babies in NICU are closely monitored by our Infection Prevention and Control team and there have been no clinical infections identified. We also test the water regularly and the filters are changed regularly as per manufacturers guidance.

What’s the problem with the Women’s Health block?

  • A sampling exercise conducted in July 2024 identified low levels of Legionella and Pseudomonas bacteria in Women’s Health Block at St Helier.
  • Given the complexity of the water system and the historical estates challenges at St Helier, advice was sought from Infection Prevention and Control specialists. The Trust also commissioned an independent Consultant Clinical Scientist, with expertise in water hygiene and infection control, to review the situation and advise on appropriate next steps.
  • Initial assessment concluded that a more comprehensive understanding of the entire water system was required. Recommendations included automatic temperature monitoring and additional sampling to fully understand the issue, as well as an invasive water risk assessment for the block.
  • This work has now been completed. While we are assured that the current mitigations in place, including those recommended by external experts, are effective, they do not provide a long-term solution, meaning we cannot guarantee water safety in the long term.

Can you guarantee services, including maternity, will move back into the building or remain on site?

  • Significant work is needed to make the building safe for cancer patients, those undergoing assisted conception, as well as mums and babies
  • To do that, we need to empty the building and fully evaluate the extent of what is required to make safe, as well as the costs involved
  • As with a lot of older hospitals, many of the pipes are housed within the structure of the building and we need to thoroughly check whether there is any asbestos present.
  • This would pose unacceptable risks to both patients and colleagues to do this work with vulnerable patients, as well as mums and babies present.
  • It would be disingenuous to make guarantees until we fully understand the extent of the problems within the building. However, this is a temporary move, and our priority is to retain as many services as possible on the St Helier site.

When will the safety measures you have in place stop being effective?

  • Significant work is needed to provide a sustainable and permanent solution, as the pre-war pipework will need to be replaced, which is not possible to do while maintaining a good birth experience and safe environment for vulnerable patients and new babies in the building.
  • This would also take a considerable period of time, which would be well beyond the date that we believe that the current short term measures would be considered safe.
  • As with a lot of older hospitals, many of the pipes are also housed within the structure of the building and we need to thoroughly check whether there is any asbestos present.  This is extremely disruptive to any normal activity that would go on in a building such as E Block.

This is clearly a maintenance issue – what is being done for the rest of the estate?

  • The wider St Helier estate is reliant on pipework of a similar age to that in E Block. However, the flow of water is better, therefore there is less of a risk of infections. Pseudomonas and legionella risk assessments are up to date for the entire site.

How long will this maintenance take?

  • We expect to undertake several months of planning around relocating services, with a goal of starting temporary relocation of services in Spring 2027. We have been advised that it will take approximately two years to complete the work.

How long has this been going on without being identified/when was the last time E Block was tested?

  • We carry out regular sampling in line with national guidance, and the bacteria was identified through that process.

Why could you not just replace the filters if they work so well?

  • Filters block bacteria at the tap but do not tackle the contamination within the water system. Our priority is to identify and eliminate the source of contamination and ensure a safe, sustainable water system.
  • Regular testing shows that the filters are very effective. However, given expert advice we have received, they are not designed to be a permanent solution. Long term use of these point-of-use filters (e.g. fitted to the taps) is not recommended as, although effective as a short term measure, they slow the water flow in the building, which in turn increases the risk of further bacterial build up.

There has been a lot of recent work around the services including new bathrooms – why was that possible, but this isn’t?

  • Replacing the bathrooms – which was a requirement following a CQC report – was a contained piece of work in a small section of the block. The wider network of pipes is, in the most part, embedded in the walls and within the structure of the building. After 90 years, there have been many repairs, replacements, and adjustments to the pipe work, a lot of which has not been documented.

Why is this happening now and why aren’t you waiting for the new hospital?

Why don’t you use the recently allocated £57million given to St Helier’s emergency department to fund this issue?

  • The money we recently received for St Helier Emergency Department was specifically designated for our emergency department services, which the CQC recently found to be regularly caring for around 250 patients per day, despite being designed for 24.

What assurances do staff have that they will continue to have a role in your Trust?

  • This is not where we wanted to be and we recognise this may be a worrying time for our colleagues.
  • This situation is immensely frustrating given the hard work that’s gone into improving our services, as recognised in our recent CQC report, and the national maternity experience survey, as well as feedback from the people we look after. We have great women’s services at St Helier, which our teams are rightly proud of.
  • We want to reassure people that we are in the very early stages of planning around this development. We also want to be very clear that we are aiming to keep most of our Women’s Health services on the St Helier site and are looking into potential options for where services may be temporarily relocated should we have to use additional capacity.
  • At this stage, the focus is on ensuring the care for patients and retaining the skills and expertise of our colleagues
  • As plans develop, we will work closely with our people and keep everyone informed – they will be engaged throughout the process
  • We understand that uncertainty can be difficult and we are working with our teams to put in place support
  • We need our valued colleagues more than ever to support this temporary move, to continue to provide services for our local population.

What does this mean for anyone using the services in the block, especially expectant mothers who are currently due to have birth at St Helier’s maternity services?

  • Maternity and all women’s health services at St Helier will continue as usual and once decisions have been made on where services will be temporarily relocated to in Spring next year, we will communicate this with patients and our communities well in advance.

Has an equality impact assessment taken place to consider how this will affect the equality of services for the local community who use women’s health services at St Helier?

  • This will happen for each option we consider for the relocation of services. As a Trust, we have a key focus on ensuring that our services appropriately supportive for patients and the families of the diverse communities we serve, and we will consider the needs of the local population as a priority when considering development plans.

Why can’t you perform the needed work while services are in place?

  • Unfortunately, it is not possible to replace pipework in sections or undertake further invasive assessment while services remain in place, as this would pose unacceptable risks to both patients and colleagues.
  • When water contamination risks are already present, adding construction-related risks creates an unacceptably high overall risk, particularly in our vulnerable patients.
  • Undertaking the work while clinical services were still in place would not be possible due to the following:
    • Replacing the pipework in sections would increase the risk of re-contamination.
    • Replacing the pipework in parts may result in some sections of pipework remaining at the end of the works which would mean that the high risk of bacteria being present in the system would remain.
    • Even if it were possible to replace the pipework with the building still occupied, the programme would extend well beyond the period that is considered safe.
    • Maintaining safe segregation, ventilation, and infection control standards is much more difficult during active building works, increasing risk of cross contamination.
    • Plumbing works can disrupt biofilm, stagnation, and flow, potentially increasing release and spread of organisms such as Legionella and Pseudomonas.

Can’t all the services be kept on site in temporary units like the ones at Queen Mary’s Hospital, Roehampton?

  • We are looking into the option of using temporary units, as well as other options.

Can women’s health services just be moved to Epsom Hospital temporarily?

  • We are exploring how to continue providing women’s health services that our local people need when we temporarily close E block for refurbishment. Our first priority will be to explore retaining them elsewhere on the St Helier site. We will look at other sites (like Epsom) if any services cannot be accommodated on the St Helier site.

Why didn’t you alert us to this sooner?

  • The contamination is due primarily to the ageing condition of the estate, and, unfortunately, is not unusual in large, older buildings – you will see water filters on taps in similar buildings
  • Colleagues in the building and at the Trust more widely have been kept up to date as we have implemented the recommendations made by the independent expert. We wanted to undertake a thorough review of all potential options for the amount of work to be done in the building and the potential to move some services within the estate.

More information on testing

  • Hospitals are required to follow strict water safety protocols, including regular testing, flushing, and temperature control, to prevent Legionella growth:
    • Monitor water temperatures (hot water above 50°C, cold below 20°C)
    • Prevent water stagnation in pipes
    • Eliminate biofilm and scale buildup
    • Undertake risk assessments and regular reviews
    • Routine testing and monitoring
    • Regular Legionella and Psuedomonas testing is conducted, especially in high-risk areas like neonatal units
    • Low use water outlets (e.g., showers, taps) are flushed regularly to prevent stagnation.

What you are saying is you need to close the service, albeit temporarily, so what are you asking partners?

  • There are a number of ways we can continue to provide the service, and it is important that we do this in a way that is appropriate for our local people, our colleagues and our close partners. There are several services housed in the building including maternity, neonatal, gynaecology services and assisted conception.

When will people working at the Trust be communicated this?

  • We communicated the safety issue with our estate with colleagues ahead of sharing the information publicly, and we will continue to communicate with them as plans progress, ensuring that we listen and take on board their feedback throughout.

What are Pseudomonas and Legionella?

  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is a type of bacteria that is commonly found in soil and water, and likely to live in wet areas including taps and shower heads, face flannels and sponges. It does not usually cause infections except in people who already have a weakened immune system due to another illness or those with immune systems which have not fully developed.
  • Legionella bacteria are commonly found in water systems and can pose a health risk, particularly in the form of Legionnaires’ disease, a form of pneumonia.