The new NHS health centre in Bermondsey and Walworth will be named Harold Moody Health Centre after local GP and campaigner Dr Harold Moody.
People in Bermondsey and Walworth, including patients and staff of nearby GP practices, were asked to rank the names from a shortlist of three, with the Harold Moody Health Centre being chosen as the favourite.
Dr Moody came to London from Jamaica in 1904 to study medicine at King’s College, London. Having been denied a hospital appointment out of racial prejudice, he set up on his own as a GP, establishing a practice in King’s Road (now King’s Grove), Peckham, in 1913. In 1922 he moved to nearby 164 Queens Road, where he lived, worked and died.
Moody also founded the League of Coloured Peoples and fought for causes including employment rights for black merchant seamen, fair pay for the Trinidadian oil workers and the lifting of the implicit colour bar in the British Armed Forces that had prevented the appointment of black officers.
Commenting on the outcome of the public vote, Dr Nancy Küchemann, GP and joint Chair of Partnership Southwark said:
“Partnership Southwark are delighted to announce that the new health centre in Bermondsey and Walworth will be called the Harold Moody Health Centre.
“The result of the public vote is testament to the impact of Dr Moody’s legacy in the borough and through the community. The new building will be a fitting tribute to his tireless work to improve the health and wellbeing of local people and communities.”
The Harold Moody Health Centre will open in summer 2023. When finished, the new state of the art, purpose-built centre, will offer GP and other health services to local residents.
Based on Thurlow Street, the new centre will have two GP practices relocating from 301 East Street Surgery and Aylesbury Medical Centre. Patients, staff and stakeholders affected by the relocation have been contacted and will receive more information as we get closer to summer 2023.