NHS Trusts merger will mean new pioneering heart and lung transplant centre at St Thomas’ Hospital and expansion of Evelina Children’s Hospital “in five to six years”

A world-leading new heart and lung transplant centre looks likely to be developed at St Thomas’s Hospital after it was announced the trust which runs it is merging management with Brompton and the pioneering Harefield Hospitals.

The Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust has officially joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the treatment, care and research of the vital organs.

It will give the new NHS trust 22,000 staff, making it the largest in the country.

It would also mean children’s treatment and care being moved from the Royal Brompton Hospital to an expanded Evenlina London in five or six years’s time.

The merger of the two NHS foundation trusts was approved by the Boards and Councils of Governors of both organisations in December 2020.

It comes into effect today, 1 February 2021, seeing the creation of a newly expanded Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, with Royal Brompton and Harefield forming a new Clinical Group within the Trust.

Since 2017, Guy’s and St Thomas’ and Royal Brompton & 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. The merger will mean clinicians and teams working more closely together, but 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.

There are no plans to move services from Harefield Hospital, but these services will be an integral part of the integration across the new trust.

Professor Ian Abbs, Chief Executive of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Together, we have a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, and conducting world-leading research.

“We have already demonstrated that by working together we can achieve more for our patients, not least during our current pandemic response.

“I am looking forward to the next step.”

Dr Richard Grocott-Mason, Managing Director of the new Royal Brompton and Harefield Clinical Group at Guy’s and St Thomas’ said: “This is a hugely significant moment in the history of Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals.

“From our earliest discussions we realised we had the chance to create something new and dynamic.

“Healthcare will undergo radical transformation over the next 10 years and hospitals and healthcare providers will need to respond. Joining Guy’s and St Thomas’ gives us the best chance of leading the transformation of heart and lung care and research on a national and international stage.”

Dino Williams, chairman of the joint staff committee and secretary of Unison said: “This will be an expensive change to the management structure.

“We have not yet seen any workforce planning but one of the biggest issues is the number of managers. We have to make sure the ratio tilts more towards making sure staff have the resources they need to do the job. And we are actively working to create an environment where staff to have a voice at the top, through their trade unions.”