Catherine West MP welcomes Whittington decision to pull out of Ryhurst deal

28th June, 2018

Catherine West MP at Simmons House opening

Catherine West MP welcomed today’s news that the Whittington Hospital is abandoning their procurement for a strategic estates partnership and will instead develop plans for much-needed improvements in-house.

Together with neighbouring MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Emily Thornberry, Catherine had raised serious concerns about the proposals and urged the Whittington Hospital Trust to cancel its master planning contract with Ryhurst in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster.

In a joint statement, Catherine West MP, Jeremy Corbyn MP and Emily Thornberry MP said:

“As the local Members of Parliament, we welcome today’s statement from Whittington Health that it intends to go ahead with improving its estate using its in-house resources, with assistance from other public sector organisations. We are pleased that a wise decision has been made to ensure that the future of all the Whittington premises both on the hospital site and in the community remain in public hands.

We would like to thank Whittington Health’s senior management for listening to us and to the appeals of the local community and the local councils. It is very good news that the proposal to enter into a deal with the Rydon Group has been abandoned once and for all.

We strongly support our wonderful hospital. We want to see investment to improve the maternity service, and we appreciate the huge efforts made by all the hospital staff who provide such a great service to our local communities.”