Following several years of close partnership working and shared leadership, Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has today, 1 November, formally joined together with Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust (HRCH).

Together they are now called Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust.

Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has today joined together with Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare Trust to become Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust (Image supplied)

The two Trusts have been working closely in partnership, with one Chair since 2020, a single executive leadership team since 2022 and increasingly shared Board governance during this time.

Jo Farrar, Chief Executive of Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We're excited to have the support of local people and our partners, to bring together our hospital and community services in this way.

"For local people, this means care and treatment will be well coordinated and smooth as they move between services, whether in our hospitals or receiving care in their own homes.

"For our staff, this merger means more opportunities for collaboration, professional growth, and shared resources.

"This will also help us to align with the national priorities to shift care out of hospital closer to home, support the shift from analogue to digital, and increase our focus on wellness and prevention as opposed to reactively facing up to ill-health.

"Throughout this whole process we have been guided by a commitment to transparency, collaboration, and engagement with our staff, partners and local people.

"I am really looking forward to the opportunities that lie ahead for us and for the communities that we serve."

In May 2023, the trust's  boards agreed a single set of objectives, aligning its quality priorities and requested that a strategic case be developed to include the option to merge.

This was then considered and approved by the Boards and submitted to NHSE in the summer of 2023.

Since then, the trust has worked with its staff and partners to develop the full business case, which has the agreement of its Boards, NHSE and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.