Chase Farm Hospital
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Chase Farm Hospital Barnet and Chase Farm NHS Hospitals Trust |
|
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Place | Enfield, London, Greater London, England, (UK) |
| Organisation | |
| Care System | Public NHS |
| Hospital Type | District General |
| Affiliated University | None |
| Services | |
| Emergency Dept. | Yes Accident & Emergency |
| Beds | 509 |
| History | |
| Founded | c. 1948 |
| Links | |
| Website | Barnet & Chase Farm Homepage |
| See also | Hospitals in England |
Chase Farm Hospital is a hospital in Enfield, north London, run by Barnet and Chase Farm NHS Hospitals Trust as part of the UK National Health Service.
The oldest part of the hospital (the "clock tower" building) was formerly part of a children's home. Newer buildings on the site include the Highlands Block, built in part replacement of the local Highlands Hospital which closed in 1993[1].
The hospital's budget problems have given rise to fears that its Accident and Emergency Department may be closed, although no proposals to this end have ever been put forward by the hospital's management. On the back of this scare two candidates for the Save Chase Farm movement were elected to the local council in the local elections of May 2006.
Apart from the acute hospital, the grounds also contain a mental health unit managed by Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust, Chase Village (a home for the mentally handicapped and mentally ill), Kings Oak private hospital, a prison, and services by Enfield Primary Care NHS Trust. The site also contains the North London Forensic Service, the forensic psychiatric service covering most of north London (also part of the Barnet Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust) and Radio Enfield. Some of the land is also being developed by builders as new homes.
A public consultation was carried out during 2007 on the possibility of reorganising services between Chase Farm Hospital and Barnet Hospital. Two options are proposed: one would transform Chase Farm to a 'community hospital' with inpatient and major emergency care transferred to Barnet. 'Option 2' would concentrate planned care at Chase Farm, with maternity and other services concentrated at Barnet.[2]. The proposals intend to maximise clinical effectiveness given limited human and financial resources; however, they also predicate a substantial investment in community health provision.
The local NHS Primary Care Trusts determined at the end of this consultation (which had only a 2% response rate from the local population) to proceed with 'Option 2'.
