We are making temporary changes to where Evelina London cares for children with heart conditions who need a stay in hospital.
Right now, we provide surgery and inpatient care at two hospitals - Evelina London Children’s Hospital and Royal Brompton Hospital. The teams have been working together for several years to provide heart care to our young patients. Together, across these sites, they provide the largest children's cardiac surgery and intervention service in the country.
Running specialist heart surgery across two sites makes it more difficult to make the best use of our teams and facilities. We are planning to bring all children’s heart surgery and inpatient care onto one site.
What’s changing?
All children and young people with heart conditions needing surgery or inpatient care will be cared for on:
Edward Ward – 10th floor, North Wing, St Thomas’ Hospital (right next to and connected to Evelina London)
Edward Ward will have:
- Enough beds to look after the children with heart conditions who would previously have been cared for on Sky ward (Evelina London Children’s Hospital) or Rose ward (Royal Brompton Hospital).
- Reclining chairs that can lay out flat so one adult can stay overnight next to their child
- A playroom and play team continuing to support children at the new locations
- A parents’ room
- Expressing facilities
- Support from the Evelina Hospital School
- The same access to other specialities across Evelina London giving you well-coordinated and joined-up care.
Why this is better for families
Having one ward for children and young people with heart conditions on one site will mean:
- Our children’s heart surgeons can provide more consistent 24/7 cover
- All inpatient heart care will be on the same site as a specialist children’s hospital and all linked services.
- Specialist cardiac teams will all work together in one place.
- Children will be close to other important services like general surgery, gastroenterology, maternity and fetal medicine.
Outpatient (clinic) appointments
We will continue to run clinics at all three sites:
- Evelina London
- Royal Brompton
- Harefield Hospital
A new, space-themed outpatients area for children and young people with heart conditions, called Galaxy, will open in the Spring. This will be on the 4th floor of Evelina London’s Children’s Day Treatment Centre (the building just outside the children’s hospital entrance).
Galaxy will replace Walrus clinic on the 1st floor of Evelina London Children’s Hospital.
Where to go
You will know when the moves have happened. When your child has an upcoming appointment, procedure or test, you will receive clear information about where to go in your booking letters and from the team.
When the changes are happening
Edward Ward and Galaxy (outpatients) will open from around May 2026.
We will give you clear information about what the move means for your child’s appointments for tests, treatment or hospital stays. We want to make sure you know what to expect and feel supported well in advance.
Who will care for your child
The heart teams at Royal Brompton and Evelina London have been working together as one team for several years. We understand how important the relationships are between families and the people who care for them. We don’t expect to make any changes to who manages your child’s care.
If there are any changes, we will let you know as early as possible.
Any arrangements for your child with another hospital will stay in place.
Waiting times
We are confident that these changes will not increase waiting times for children. Our priority is to make sure every child continues to receive timely, high-quality care.
Cancellations
We try very hard not to cancel care. We know that getting ready for a hospital visit can take a lot of time and effort for children and families.
Most planned appointments and treatments go ahead as expected. However, sometimes we need to rearrange planned care because of unexpected events or because another child needs more urgent treatment that cannot wait. If this happens, we will let you know as soon as possible and help you make new plans
Beds
We have been carefully planning how to make the best use of space within St Thomas’ Hospital and Evelina London Children’s Hospital to make sure we can care for all the children who need us.
Edward Ward will replace Rose Ward (Royal Brompton) and the heart beds on Sky Ward (Evelina London Children’s Hospital).
It will have enough beds to ensure that we can continue to care for all our children with heart conditions when they need to stay in hospital.
We are also increasing the number of intensive care beds at Evelina London to make sure we can look after more seriously unwell children.
What the new spaces will look like
Both Edward Ward and Galaxy outpatients will be bright and child-friendly. We have involved young heart patients, families and staff in the designs.
- Edward Ward: you will see our Evelina London characters visiting London landmarks
- Galaxy: you will see our characters in space and maybe even some animals!
Accommodation
We know that parents and carers often want to stay with, or close to, their child while they are in hospital.
Each bed in Edward ward will have a reclining chair that can be laid out flat, so a parent can stay next to their child.
Some families may also be able to stay at Ronald McDonald House, which offers a comfortable “home away from home” for families of children being cared for at Evelina London Children’s Hospital.
If you cannot stay at Ronald McDonald House, Gassiot House Lodge at St Thomas’ Hospital has rooms that can be booked per night. There is a nightly charge for these rooms.
You can find more details about family accommodation on our website.
Get involved
The changes we are making are temporary.
Any decision to make a permanent change will require a formal process led by NHS commissioners. This process will involve exploring all viable options that meet the needs of children who need these services and inviting views from patients, families, staff, and other public stakeholders.
We are keen to hear from children, young people and their families. There will be opportunities to get involved, share your thoughts, and help us develop our heart services further. These might include:
- Joining a patient and carer group where you can share your experiences
- Workshops (online or in-person)
- Questionnaires or interviews
Register your interest.