World-class adult and neonatal intensive care units open at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and its charity CW+,  have officially opened a state-of-the-art expansion and redevelopment of its Adult and Neonatal Intensive Care Units at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, which will enable the treatment of more than 2,000 critically ill adults and babies every year.

The first phase of the Adult Intensive Care Unit was fast-tracked to open in March 2020 to treat the increased number of patients being cared for in our ICU due to the COVID-19 outbreak. With construction phases complete, the capacity of the new ICU unit has increased by 45%, allowing the Trust to care for an additional 500 patients per year. The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) has expanded by 40% providing specialist care to 150 more babies every year, as well as providing better clinical space and family facilities.

With support from Julia and Hans Rausing and other donors, the Trust has been able to develop world-class ICU facilities with a first-of-its-kind patient-led approach to care. The new unit aims to significantly improve critically ill patients’ recovery and wellbeing by creating optimal healing environments and incorporating the latest innovations and digital solutions that can be personalised to reduce anxiety, pain and stress.

Julia and Hans Rausing, after whom the new adult intensive care unit is named, said: “Over the past year, we have all seen the amazing care that doctors and nurses have given to patients at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, under the most difficult and trying of circumstances. We hope that this new intensive care unit will further enhance the quality of care provided and allow even more people to benefit from the expertise of the wonderful doctors and nurses at the hospital.”

June 30 2021