Whipps Cross University Hospital

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Whipps Cross University Hospital is an NHS-run University Hospital in Leytonstone, North-east London, which housed London's first Hyperbaric Unit.

London South Bank University's East London Faculty of Health campus is at Whipps Cross.

Whipps Cross University hospital is geographically close to the site of the 2012 Olympics, has one of the largest and busiest A&E departments in the UK and serves a diverse community from Chigwell to Leyton.

A redevelopment of the site planned for 2012 has now been abandoned after the withdrawal of one potential PFI partner. Subsequent plans to redevelop the hospital in stages has also been put on hold whilst financial turnaround is in progress.

As of Summer 2006 the hospital is undergoing a Turnaround process designed to head off a projected £40 million deficit. The turnaround team is headed by an external consultant and is expected to take up to three years to bring the hospital back to financial viability. Around 450 jobs are expected to be lost including nurses, doctors, administrators and managers.

Unrelated to the financial situation faced by the hospital, a review of the North East London health economy has cast doubts over the future of the hospital and / or neighbouring King George Hospital when the newly upgraded Oldchurch hospital is complete. It is not clear if the work of the turnaround team will place the hospital in a better or worse position for the next review as it is not yet clear which services might be required on a smaller and more acute site into the future.

The hospital has its own radio service, Whipps Cross Hospital Radio, a registered charity founded in 1969 by the Walthamstow Lions club to provide entertainment and information to the patients and staff. The station has been broadcasting 24 hours a day since 2004. Former presenters have included Chris Searle and Annabel Port who went on to Virgin Radio.