Jeremy Corbyn and Alastair Campbell open Highgate East hospital

The New Labour architect joined former party leader Jeremy Corbyn at the opening of Highgate East, a new mental health hospital next to the Whittington on Friday (July 12).

The £80 million hospital - compared to "a modern hotel" - has 78 single, ensuite rooms, and each ward has access to a terraced sky garden, which is fully enclosed for safety and security.

At the opening, Campbell spoke about the challenges his brother Donald, who suffered from schizophrenia, had to face over the decades.

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From left to right: Lena Samuels, chair of NLMHP; Jeremy Corbyn MP, Alastair Campbell; Jinjer Kandola, NLMHP chief executive (Image: NLMHP)

The commentator and former political stragegist, 67, who lives in Gospel Oak, said: “When my brother died, we sat down with a map of the UK and dotted all the different places where he’d been.

“So, we had all these hospitals all around the country and some of them were amazing and some of them were terrible and places where you would not want to be treated.

“That is why I wanted to be involved today – I felt the power of the architecture as we were going around."

He added: “You can see best practice here and hopefully that can spread.”

Service user Nicky Baker said: “When you suffer from a mental illness, you shut yourself away and you’re in a dark space.

“Coming here, you’re in the light and the fresh air, and it feels so comfortable.”

In an unlikely union, Campbell was joined at the hospital’s opening by Corbyn, who has just been re-elected as Islington North MP as an Independent.

The new Highgate East hospital (Image: NLMHP)

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The £80 million project was born from a need to relocate North London Mental Health Partnership’s inpatient wards from the St Pancras Hospital site, and took four years to complete.

A new eye hospital and community mental health centre will replace the existing hospital in St Pancras Way.

The partnership's chief executive Jinjer Kandola added that the design of the building makes it feel “more like a modern hotel” than an NHS mental health hospital.

She explained: “The building includes a sports hall for service users and space for a new community café which will be open to the public, helping to break down traditional barriers and destigmatise views of mental health.”