Opening 2026
New Douglas Bennett House is now open, and services have begun to move in. The Eating Disorders Unit moved into the fourth floor in May, and they will be joined on the third floor by Florence ward on 21 July and Nelson ward on 22 July. Further wards from Lambeth Hospital will be moving in late August and September.
The building is a modern eight-ward inpatient facility for adult wards currently at Lambeth Hospital as well as the Eating Disorders Unit and Neuropsychiatry Unit, moving from the Bethlem Royal Hospital. It offers a modern and improved environment for service users to recover and staff to deliver the best care possible.
DBH IMAGE
Benefits include:
- Purpose-built, specially configured wards, designed for service users’ needs;
- Individual, ensuite bathrooms for bedrooms and more assisted bathrooms available;
- Direct, unsupervised access to large balconies, a roof garden or courtyards landscaped with trees, seating and raised beds for therapeutic gardening;
- Better sightlines within wards to help people feel safe
- Digital innovation to improve entry to, and exit from, bedrooms and other areas to ensure people using our services have more control over their personal space
- Specifically allocated private office and lounge spaces for staff; and
- A more therapeutic environment with access to a range of therapy and treatment rooms, quiet rooms, family rooms and multifaith spaces.
Renaming Douglas Bennett House
The Trust wanted to know what name would be the most meaningful to our staff and the communities we serve.
Following an extensive consultation with patients, carers, staff and members of the public a permanent name was agreed, New Douglas Bennett House. It recognised the heritage of the wards of Lambeth Hospital. To that end, the names of the Lambeth wards will not change.
The new building will replace a building that once stood on the site - Douglas Bennett House - named after Dr Douglas Bennett (1918-1997) a consultant psychiatrist at Maudsley Hospital, from 1962 until he retired he pioneered long-term care and rehabilitation services.
