Guy’s and St Thomas’ Trust have today announced that Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust has officially joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease.
The news published today states:
Since 2017, Guy’s and St Thomas’ and Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trusts have been working together, and with colleagues across King’s Health Partners, to develop plans to transform care for adults and children with heart and lung disease. This merger is a key step towards achieving these ambitions.
To begin with, the merger will mean clinicians and teams working more closely together, building on the partnership work over the last three years, but generally providing services to the same patients and in the same places as they do now.
Subject to the necessary public consultation, children’s services will move from the Royal Brompton Hospital site to an expanded Evelina London Children’s Hospital at St Thomas’ in around five to six years’ time. Subsequently, and again subject to consultation, we hope to build a new centre for heart and lung services at St Thomas’, which will be the home to adult heart and lung services from across the new Trust and potentially other partners as well.
Professor Ian Abbs, Chief Executive of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, says: “I am proud to welcome colleagues from Royal Brompton and Harefield to the Guy’s and St Thomas’ family. Together, and with our partners, we have a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients from before birth to old age, and conducting world-leading research.
ECHO welcomes these changes as the Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust has officially joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, including Evelina London. We are in ongoing conversations regarding changes to children and adult heart services, and in 2020 we extended our membership to families treated by the teams at the Royal Brompton & Harefield and its networks to enable us to best connect the children’s heart community. Our communications and information will evolve to reflect this change.
At ECHO we welcome all heart families treated by the Evelina London and the Royal Brompton and Harefield and all of its network hospitals. We wish to reassure our members than we remain dedicated to providing support services to families now and into the future and are here if you need us.