The hospital's name originates from the Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital, which occupied the site from 1977 until its closure in 1995, and was named after
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (who opened the hospital on 1 November 1978). The
military hospital was built on the site of the former
Shrapnel Barracks and was a replacement for the
Royal Herbert Hospital in Shooters Hill and
Queen Alexandra Military Hospital. A new hospital was procured under a
Private Finance Initiative contract to replace the military hospital and to accommodate services previously provided at
Greenwich District Hospital and
Brook General Hospital in 1998. The new hospital was built by
Skanska at a cost of £84 million and opened in March 2001, being officially opened by the
Queen on 11 December that year. In July 2012,
Andrew Lansley,
Secretary of State for Health, announced that the South London Healthcare Trust, formed in 2009 was to go into
special measures and become the first Trust to have an independent Administrator appointed. The Trust was subsequently disbanded by
Jeremy Hunt, Lansley's successor as Secretary of State for Health. On 1 October 2013 it was transferred to
Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust on the disestablishment of South London Healthcare NHS Trust. Following power cuts, water shortages and floods the trust applied to the Independent Trust Finance Facility, part of the
Department of Health, for £48 million to repair the hospital in June 2016. It stated that "The infrastructure issues arise from unresolved legacy problems with the 60 year PFI agreement between the Meridian Hospital Company and the now dissolved Greenwich Health Authority, and derive from failures in specification and design standards, cost cutting at construction and contract terms that give the present trust limited redress against defects arising from the initial design and installation." The application was approved in November 2017. In April 2018, following the January 2018 liquidation of
Carillion, renewed concern about privatised provision of services at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust prompted a petition, supported by the trade union GMB and local MP
Matthew Pennycook, to bring 'soft' facilities services back in-house. In February 2023, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust appointed a contractor to undertake a £30m, 80-week programme of infrastructure works including installation of new primary high-voltage and low-voltage electricity distribution, back-up generators, a refurbished energy centre, and ventilation improvements including replacement of air handling units serving the operating theatres, pathology, delivery suite, special care baby unit and ward areas. ==Criticisms==