North Middlesex Hospital and Royal Free London Proposed Merger
North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust (North Mid) and the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust are now looking to merge into one organisation.
Royal Free's clear objectives and reassurances regarding the merger focus on ensuring patients can expect continuity in their routine local hospital services, including A&E, maternity, intensive care, paediatrics, acute surgery, medicine, and other community services.
The merger aims to bring about several benefits for patients including:
- Reducing waiting times
- Improving access to specialist care locally
- Better coordination of community services
- Increasing opportunities for participation in research
- More targeted screening and early intervention services
Altogether, the focus of the merger is enhancing patient care and health outcomes for service-users.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are the hospital trusts planning to merge now?
The way healthcare is provided has changed significantly in recent years. Local health and care partners are increasingly working together to tackle shared challenges and to improve health and care for their local populations. North Mid has been a clinical partner with the Royal Free London group since 2017 and in a formal partnership since 2021. The trusts say their partnership has already achieved benefits for patients and staff and, as a larger group, they will be able to go further and faster in strengthening and improving all services.
What will be the financial impact?
The trusts say their plans are driven by their shared aim to provide better, more joined-up and sustainable service and are not about cutting costs. Where the merger enables more efficient use of resources, savings will be retained within the organisation and reinvested in further improved services.
Have the plans been finalised?
The trusts are currently developing a business case for their plans. This needs to be approved by both trust’s boards and NHS England before they can officially merge. If the plans are approved in summer 2024, they expect to bring their organisations together in autumn 2024.
Will there be a public consultation?
The plans do not involve any specific service change proposals that require formal consultation, but the trusts are keeping local communities informed so they can help shape the improvements the merger is expected to bring.
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