St George’s Hospital in Tooting and Maudsley Hospital in Camberwell are among the South London sites earmarked for new mental health emergency departments under a £343 million national funding package.
St George’s Hospital in Tooting, widely recognised from the television series 24 Hours in A&E, has secured an initial £1.9 million to develop plans for a new, dedicated mental health emergency department.
Built as close as possible to the existing St George’s A&E for easy access, the new mental health emergency department will provide calming, specialist crisis care while directly reducing overcrowding and corridor waiting times.
Kate Slemeck, site CEO of St George’s, stated that the new department will directly serve patients who currently get stuck in the emergency department for long periods while waiting for hospital capacity elsewhere.
Speaking to Wandsworth Council’s Health Committee on Monday night, September 21, Ms Slemeck confirmed that St George’s is collaborating with NHS partners to design the facility using the initial £1.9 million investment.
She explained that the facility aims to provide patients with a much better experience and the immediate mental health interventions they need, while supporting their timely exit to the right external care setting.
The department will be run by South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust, with more details to be revealed as the plans are developed over the coming months.
The proposals are part of a £343 million funding package announced by the Government in August to open 159 new NHS mental health facilities across England, which includes 100 community mental health centres for walk-in support and 59 mental health emergency departments.
The next round of national funding approval is expected in October 2026, with the full cash injection due to be invested by March 2028.
As part of this wider investment, five new community mental health centres are planned across South West London.
It is a much-needed and vital upgrade for crisis care, ensuring that vulnerable people receive specialised, compassionate support in a calm environment rather than getting stuck waiting in standard A&E corridors.
A dedicated facility staffed by professionals who can truly pay attention to every patient is a long-overdue advancement that will finally give those in crisis the focused, specialised care they deserve.
Staff for the new facility at St George’s Hospital will be provided and managed by the South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust.
The public reaction to the announcement emphasises a strong consensus that specialist, compassionate mental health crisis facilities are desperately required to replace overcrowded A&E corridors.
Commenters repeatedly state that these dedicated departments are “about time” and “long overdue,” highlighting years of systemic gaps in crisis care.
