History
The hospital was designed by the architect John Weeks and commissioned by the NW Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board in the late 1960s, and was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1970.
It featured in the opening credits of an episode of the comedyTV series Fawlty Towers and the 1976 horror film The Omen, and has been used as a set for both series of the Channel 4 comedy Green Wing and the seventh series of ITV's Prime Suspect.
In March 1975, the world's first body CT Scanner was installed at Northwick Park Hospital.
In 1994, the hospital merged with internationally-renowned St Mark's Hospital who moved in to a wing of the hospital formerly occupied by the Clinical Research Council. The hospital retains its research pedigree through its association with Imperial College School of Medicine and its own Northwick Park Institute of Medical Research.
In 2005, the hospital's maternity department was named as having one of the highest death rates in the United Kingdom . During the period April 2002 to March 2004, the maternal death rate for the maternity unit was 74.2 per 100,000, 6.5 times the national average of 11.4 per 100,000, as reported by Cemach (Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health). A range of "special measures" designed to improve maternity services and public confidence in the services was agreed with the Trust and these were all complied with within a year.
According to Dr Foster's Hospital Guide (published on 17 November 2008) Northwick Park's mortality rates are among the best in the United Kingdom and The North West London Hospitals NHS Trust, which manages the hospital, is one of the 'most improved' NHS trusts.
Read more about this topic: Northwick Park Hospital
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