Great Ormond Street Hospital marks the start of construction work on ambitious new, world class medical facility

Charity patrons Tess Daly and Vernon Kay help celebrate breaking ground on the new Premier Inn Clinical Building, part of the  Mittal Children’s Medical Centre.

Tess Daly and Vernon Kay joined young patients at Great Ormond Street Hospital as they helped to launch the construction of the Premier Inn Clinical Building, an ambitious world class facility which will form the second part of the Mittal Children’s Medical Centre.

The couple, who are patrons for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity, were dressed in hard hats and high vis vests at the construction site of the new building where they met young patients at the Breaking Ground ceremony on Tuesday 30 September. The event marked the beginning of works that will see the top four floors of the hospital’s outdated Cardiac Wing demolished and redeveloped.

The state-of-the art building, which is set to open in 2017, will include a new surgery centre, a respiratory ward and a 16 bed isolation unit for children with dermatology and rheumatology conditions or infectious diseases. The new facilities will provide much needed space for a parent or carer to stay by the child’s bedside overnight, more room for children to play and eat together and areas for parents to have a break.

The Premier Inn Clinical Building is the second development in the Mittal Children’s Medical Centre and will connect floor by floor with the Morgan Stanley Clinical Building which opened in 2012. Once complete, it is anticipated that the entire hospital will be able to treat up to 20 per cent more children with the most complex, rare and often life-threatening conditions.

Great Ormond Street Hospital Chief Executive Julian Nettel said: “We are incredibly grateful to all our supporters who have made this day possible. Thanks to their generosity, we will be able to fulfil our vision of providing world-class treatment in more comfortable and appropriate facilities suitable for patients and their families. We will also be able to treat more children from across the UK who need our care.”

Tess Daly who along with husband Vernon Kay has been a patron for the charity since 2007 said: “It’s such an honour to be a part of this event. Hearing the huge difference the modern spacious wards can make to families going through such difficult times shows how important this day is.”

In 2008 Aditya and Megha Mittal made a £15 million pledge towards the development of The Mittal Children’s Medical Centre, the first phase of which was the completion of the Morgan Stanley Clinical Building in 2012.

Whitbread Hotels & Restaurants which runs Premier Inn, has pledged to raise £7.5 million towards the Premier Inn Clinical Building through fundraising activity at more than 670 Premier Inn hotels and 380 restaurants nationwide, a partnership which began in 2012.

As part of its partnership with Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (launched in 2008), The Walt Disney Company UK has committed to create a garden for families and visitors which will sit between the two buildings. In addition to financial support towards the redevelopment project, the company also offers magical entertainment experiences for patients and families and built a new play area for the Morgan Stanley Clinical Building, which opened in 2012. Designed with the patients’ needs in mind, the play area provides a space where children can relax and engage in a range of fun interactive zones with Disney’s characters.

The Khoo Tech Puat UK Foundation are helping to fund a Centre for Children needing treatment for dermatology, rheumatology conditions or infectious diseases, including 16 much needed en-suite isolation rooms.

The hospital’s redevelopment has also benefited from the support of the Barclay Foundation, the charitable trust of Sir Frederick and Sir David Barclay and their families, who in 2007 pledged a significant gift to support the hospital’s ambitious plans.