Goodmayes will see an increase in mental health services with the addition of 30 new beds by 2026.
North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) secured capital funding to open two additional 15-bedded wards at the Goodmayes site. Marie Johnson, the Chief Operating Officer at NELFT, announced the successful bid at a meeting of the Outer North East London Joint Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday, 8 July 2025, noting that the trust is in the early stages of co-producing the model for the new wards.
One of the areas we'll be looking at very closely is the configuration of those wards,
Johnson said, adding that NELFT faces challenges around the female pathway and delays around older people's pathways. The new wards aim to address both bed capacity and community pathways.
Johnson also addressed concerns raised by Councillor Sunny Brar regarding a recent inquest finding about the Goodmayes site. She reassured the committee that the trust is considering the verdict and its implications for the trust and the broader mental health provision. Co-production with service users and people with lived experience will be vital in determining the layout, requirements, and pathway within the new wards.
In addition to the new wards, the crisis hub in Goodmayes is fully open and has seen more than 300 patients since April, with 60 of those patients being admitted. The hub will be temporarily closed for a day or two in July for door replacements. NELFT is also tendering for crisis cafes and the crisis house in Redbridge is open to Waltham Forest residents as well.
Councillor Richard Sweden inquired about the decision to stick with 30 extra beds and whether those beds could be offered to neighbouring trusts like ELFT if there was excess capacity. Johnson responded that there is a lot of work going on in each place to have early intervention in the community, and that they want to find people much earlier. She said that they work very closely with Elft and particularly Waltham Forest, and are looking at seeing if they can access some Elft beds.
NELFT is working to strengthen community pathways, particularly for the female pathway. Johnson said that they have some beds, but not enough, and they will have some in the new Goodmayes wards. They also have intensive care, female provided by Elft, but their community pathway needs strengthening, which is what they're working on at the moment.