The Princess Grace Hospital

The Princess Grace Hospital is an acute private hospital based in Marylebone, London and is part of the international division of HCA (Hospital Corporation of America), which is the world’s largest private healthcare company.

Brief history and the hospital today

The hospital was designed by Richard Seifert who has designed iconic buildings such as Tower 42 and the Centrepoint tower. The Princess Grace Hospital was opened in 1977 by Princess Grace of Monaco. To date, the hospital has been the first UK hospital in the private sector to provide many new technologies. These technologies include:

• Modic Antibiotic Spinal Therapy, which is used to treat chronic low back pain caused by a bacterial infection in the spinal discs
• "Nanoknife", which destroys soft tissue tumours with an electric current
• Use of the da Vinci robotic surgical system
• Use of "shrill" in endoscopic spinal surgery
• Complex MRI to identify the diffusion of nutrients into interspinal discs
• “Trimano” which assists surgeons during shoulder surgery by safely and securely holding the patient’s arm in place
• “SurgiQuest”, which maintains an airtight pneumothorax during surgery which increases visual field
• Breast intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT), which delivers a single dose of radiotherapy to the tumour site following removal of the tumour and before completion of the operation
• Endoscopic spinal surgery, which offers spine surgery through a cut no bigger than a needle puncture and leads to faster recovery times
• “SmartPill”, which is an ingestible capsule that detects changes in pressure, pH and temperature as it travels through the gastro-intestinal (GI) tract
• Balloon Kyphoplasty, which is a balloon-like device that is inserted into a drilled channel in the fractured vertebrae and is then inflated to the normal height of the vertebrae
• Vacuum assisted breast biopsy, which is when a hollow probe is guided into the abnormal breast tissue and a biopsy is pulled into the probe and cut off
• “HiFu” for prostate cancer, which uses high frequency ultrasound waves to heat and destroy cancer cells in the prostrate

In recent years the hospital has grown from its main base on Nottingham Place, a few blocks west of Harley Street. In 2013 the hospital worked in partnership with the NHS and other stakeholders to develop the Institute of Sport Exercise and Health. This centre specialises in sports and exercise medicine and offers treatment to both elite sports professionals as well as those who only partake in sport at the weekend as part of the legacy of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Facilities and services

The hospital has 127 registered medical and surgical beds, including a nine bed intensive care unit. There are eight operating theatres, including specialist orthopaedic and robotic surgery suites and a twin endoscopy unit. The hospital provides many services; including, but not limited to:

• Breast care
• Gastroenterology
• Hepatobiliary (HPB) and Hepatology surgery
• Orthopaedics
• Spinal Surgery
• Sports and Exercise medicine
• Urgent care
• Urology

See also

• List of hospitals in England