My Marylebone

Aleksandra McNee, director of operations at Phoenix Hospital Group

Work I am a trained nurse and now ultimately responsible for all the clinical services at Phoenix Hospital Group in London. In Marylebone we have the Weymouth Street Hospital, a short-stay elective care hospital. Then we have 9 Harley Street and 25 Harley Street, which are our outpatient and diagnostic centres. There is not really a typical day for anyone in healthcare, including me. At any moment, I’ve got to be able to jump on issues ranging from a consultant query to a request from the MRI scanning team. My role is to ensure that everything is running smoothly and we are providing the highest level of care safely. That entails looking at everything from a policy perspective and a security perspective. Are we supporting our clinicians in the best way possible? It is also a strategic role and I’m involved in planning what we will be doing in the longer-term future as well as managing daily operations. As a result of all this, I’m back and forth across all three sites, so I can have a pretty high step count on a good day!

Shop What’s quite dangerous about working in Marylebone is the fact that there are just so many enticing shops in the area. ME + EM on New Cavendish Street is one of my favourites. There’s also a really beautiful new childrenswear shop called Strawberries & Cream on Wigmore Street. I have a fiveyear-old and there’s always something in there that you can either look at and dream about or buy for an occasion. It’s great for gifts for other people’s children too. Dinny Hall on Marylebone Lane is really lovely, and I really like Paul Smith. But one of the shops that I particularly like, which might sound a little bit odd, is Penton’s, the hardware store at the bottom of Marylebone Lane. It’s such a wonderful place when you step inside. It’s like its own little world.

Culture There are some really great galleries in the area. You’re always just a short walk from some wonderful art. There is Clarendon Fine Art on the high street, and I love seeing what new pieces they’ve got in the window. Then there’s Railings Gallery, which again always has some beautiful things hanging up. Wigmore Hall is fabulous, but you have to make a bit more effort to get in there by buying tickets, whereas you can see some really beautiful things just by walking the streets. I love Gallery Eclectic, a really beautiful pottery gallery and shop. I often look in the window. It feels slightly tucked away, you almost don’t realise it’s there, but it’s really lovely. Eat Ottolenghi opening up on Marylebone Lane a couple of years ago was one of my best days ever! I love their food and when suddenly there was one so close to work, that was quite wonderful. It was the same with St John, which recently arrived. I think the food there is fantastic. I also like The Italians, up on Blandford Street. It’s a little deli and wine bar, a place to go for light plates. I recently took my daughter to Cocoro on Marylebone Lane, the Japanese place, and it was just so good. Again, it is one of those under-the-radar places that’s been there forever selling really excellent food. I really love Orrery because of their wonderful rooftop terrace, which is wonderful in both summer and winter. It’s a really nice place to go at night. Then there’s Bonne Bouche, a fantastic patisserie. The quality and variety of food available here is wonderful, if slightly dangerous.

Community I think Marylebone is probably one of the few parts in London that you really do get that sense of community, because this is otherwise such a big, transient city. Marylebone has got that village feel. It’s nice walking up the street and running into someone that you’ve not seen for a while. You have everything here that you could possibly want, and it’s all very much within walking distance, so you do bump into friends and colleagues. Healthcare is a very small community, so everybody does get to know each other. Even if you don’t live in Marylebone, there is certainly a sense of belonging.

PHOENIX HOSPITAL GROUP 020 7079 2100 phoenixhospitalgroup.com