View source for Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust

{{update|Acquisition of [[North Middlesex University Hospital]]|date=January 2025}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{short description|NHS hospital trust}}
{{Infobox NHS organisation
| name             = Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
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| logo             = Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust logo.svg
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| start_date       = 1991
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| end_date         = <!-- {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}} -->
| headquarters     = [[Pond Street, Hampstead|Pond Street]] <br> London <br> NW3 2QG<ref>{{cite web |title=Contact details |url=https://www.cqc.org.uk/provider/RAL/contact |website=Care Quality Commission |access-date=26 October 2019}}</ref>
| coords           = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LON|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}} -->
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| type             = [[NHS foundation trust]]
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| hospitals        = {{plainlist|
* [[Barnet Hospital]]
* [[Chase Farm Hospital]]
* [[North Middlesex University Hospital]]
* [[Royal Free Hospital]]
}}
| chair            = Mark Lam
| chief_exec       = Peter Landstrom
| staff            = 12,792<ref>{{cite web |title=Annual report and accounts 2023/24 |url=https://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/application/files/2717/2181/0466/Royal_Free_London_NHS_Foundation_Trust_Annual_Report_202324.pdf |website=Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust |access-date=18 September 2024}}</ref>
| website          = {{Official URL}}
}}
The '''Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust''' (formerly the '''Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust''') is an [[NHS foundation trust]] based in London, United Kingdom. It comprises [[Royal Free Hospital]], [[Barnet Hospital]], [[Chase Farm Hospital]] and [[North Middlesex University Hospital]]. It also runs clinics at Edgware Community Hospital and [[Finchley Memorial Hospital]].<ref name=aboutus>{{cite web|url=http://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/default.aspx?top_nav_id=3&tab_id=3|title=About us|access-date=6 April 2012|publisher=Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust}}</ref><ref name=sites>{{cite web|url=http://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/default.aspx?top_nav_id=3&sel_left_nav=40&tab_id=25|title=Hospital sites|access-date=6 April 2012|publisher=Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325215412/http://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/default.aspx?top_nav_id=3&sel_left_nav=40&tab_id=25|archive-date=25 March 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref> On 1 July 2014, the Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust was acquired by Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, making it one of the largest trusts in the country.
==History==
The Free Hospital was founded in 1828 to provide free hospital care to the poor.<ref name=history>{{cite web|url=http://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/default.aspx?top_nav_id=3&sel_left_nav=34&tab_id=19|title=Our history and archives centre|access-date=6 April 2012|publisher=Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504064509/http://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/default.aspx?top_nav_id=3&sel_left_nav=34&tab_id=19|archive-date=4 May 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref> A [[royal charter]] was granted by [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]] in 1837 in recognition of the hospital's treatment of cholera victims.<ref name=history/> For a long period, the Royal Free Hospital was the only hospital in London to offer clinical instruction to women and was closely associated with the [[London School of Medicine for Women]], later renamed Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine.<ref name=history/>
Royal Free Hospital moved to its present site in the mid-1970s, bringing together the old Royal Free Hospital on Gray's Inn Road with the Lawn Road, New End and Hampstead General hospitals.<ref name=history/> The former Hampstead Children's Hospital became the nursing accommodation for the hospital.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hospitals|url=http://www.derelictlondon.com/hospitals.html|publisher=Derelict London}}</ref>
In April 1991, the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust, comprising Royal Free Hospital and [[Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital|Royal National Throat, Nose, and Ear Hospital]], became one of the first NHS trusts established under the provisions of the NHS and Community Care Act 1990.<ref name=history/> In August 2008, the trust announced its intention to form the [[UCLPartners]] [[academic health science centre]] with [[University College London]], [[Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust]], [[Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust]], and [[University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust]].<ref name=uclpartners/> UCLPartners was officially designated as an academic health science centres by the UK Department of Health in March 2009.<ref name=uclpartners/> In April 2011 the trust announced that it would be making 450 redundancies as part of a plan to reduce costs by £40m per year.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.camdennewjournal.com/news/2011/apr/royal-free-hospital-axes-450-jobs|title=Royal Free Hospital axes 450 jobs|access-date=6 April 2012|work=Camden New Journal|date=7 April 2011}}</ref>
The Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust was authorised by [[Monitor (NHS)|Monitor]] as an [[NHS foundation trust]] on 1 April 2012,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/default.aspx?top_nav_id=2&tab_id=2&news_id=966|title=Foundation trust success|access-date=6 April 2012|publisher=Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331143953/http://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/default.aspx?top_nav_id=2&tab_id=2&news_id=966|archive-date=31 March 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref> subsequently changing its name to Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/9622971.Royal_Free_hospital_becomes_foundation_trust/|title=Royal Free hospital becomes foundation trust|access-date=6 April 2012|publisher=Times Series|date=30 March 2012}}</ref> In the same month, [[University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust]] took over management of Royal National Throat, Nose, and Ear Hospital from the trust.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uclh.nhs.uk/News/Pages/ManagementofRNTNEHservicesmovestoUCLH.aspx|title=Management of RNTNEH services moves to UCLH|access-date=11 April 2012|publisher=University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust}}</ref>
In 2013, the trust had an annual turnover of around £450m and employed around 4,600 staff.<ref name=aboutus/> Royal Free Hospital has a total of roughly 900 beds and treats around 700,000 patients each year.<ref name=aboutus/> In partnership with [[University College London|University College London (UCL)]], the trust has major research activities and it forms part of the [[UCLPartners]] [[academic health science centre]].<ref name=uclpartners>{{cite web|url=http://www.uclpartners.com/about-us|title=About Us|access-date=19 September 2010|publisher=UCLPartners|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100910112932/http://www.uclpartners.com/about-us|archive-date=10 September 2010|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The Royal Free Hospital is also a teaching centre for the [[UCL Medical School]].<ref name=campuses>{{cite web|url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/medicalschool/undergraduate/about-medicalschool/campuses/royalfree|title=Royal Free Campus|access-date=6 April 2012|publisher=UCL Medical School}}</ref>
In March 2017, the trust sold land at Chase Farm Hospital in Enfield to the Royal Free Charity for £50m. The charity plans to use the land to provide housing for staff.<ref>{{cite news|title=Major trust sells £50m of land to charity arm|url=https://www.hsj.co.uk/7017648.article?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWTJFellUWXdZVEZpWkRoaSIsInQiOiJZOHEzSGxrN09sRUVhcFhsY3A4eXFJMVwvRVErQk0xWndJNHpVUWFYVllqcDFDTFZFcUJlUzhiYitDNEVQTE1cL2d2WEN3TE1hUWJUckhROHBPYmJPWVo1NHJJK2pmYUlTK0dUa0JXNVZld05Cekh4RG9GOCtTY3J1cnJ3NmpsNFVlIn0%3D|access-date=29 May 2017|work=Health Service Journal|date=3 May 2017}}</ref>
==Organisation==
[[File:Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead - geograph.org.uk - 275921.jpg|thumb|right|[[Royal Free Hospital]]]]
The trust has a board of directors comprising eleven statutory members including the chairman (currently Mark Lam) and Chief Executive (currently Peter Landstrom) of the trust.<ref name=board>{{cite web|url=https://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/about-us/trust-board/|title=Trust board|access-date=15 May 2019|publisher=Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The role of the Board is to consider the key strategic and managerial issues facing the trust in carrying out its statutory and other functions.<ref name=constit>{{cite web|url=http://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/foundation/doc/constitution.pdf|title=Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust Constitution|access-date=6 April 2012|publisher=Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121125194834/http://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/Foundation/doc/constitution.pdf|archive-date=25 November 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The Chief Executive is responsible for the overall performance of the executive functions of the trust.<ref name=constit/>
The trust also has a council of governors which is responsible for working with the board of directors to produce plans for the future development of the trust. It's also in charge of receiving, at a public meeting, copies of the trust's annual accounts, auditor's reports, and annual reports.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/default.aspx?top_nav_id=3&sel_left_nav=67&tab_id=544|title=Trust members – council of governors|access-date=6 April 2012|publisher=Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust|url-status=dead|archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20101130225708/http%3A//www.royalfree.nhs.uk/default.aspx?top_nav_id%3D3%26sel_left_nav%3D67%26tab_id%3D544|archive-date=30 November 2010|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The council of governors is composed of 25 members, of whom 6 are elected members from the public constituency, 5 are elected members from the staff constituency, and 7 are elected members from the patient constituency.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/default.aspx?top_nav_id=3&sel_left_nav=67&tab_id=620|title=Trust members – Meet the council of governors|access-date=6 April 2012|publisher=Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust|url-status=dead|archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20101130225722/http%3A//www.royalfree.nhs.uk/default.aspx?top_nav_id%3D3%26sel_left_nav%3D67%26tab_id%3D620|archive-date=30 November 2010|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
==Performance==
When the trust took over [[Barnet and Chase Farm NHS Hospitals Trust|Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals Trust]] in 2014, it discovered a large backlog of patients waiting for elective treatment that year. By April 2015, the trust had reviewed 7,174 patients who have now received treatment. The review concluded that one patient "may have experienced serious harm" and 39 patients had "potentially" suffered "moderate harm", and 68 patients may have suffered "low harm". 1,541 patients were sent to private providers since July 2014, predominately for endoscopy and ear, nose, and throat treatments.<ref>{{cite news|title=Patients suffer 'harm' due to treatment delays|url=http://www.hsj.co.uk/hsj-local/acute-trusts/royal-free-london-nhs-foundation-trust/patients-suffer-harm-due-to-treatment-delays/5083973.article|access-date=4 May 2015|work=Health Service Journal|date=7 April 2015}}</ref>
In November 2014, the trust started a project to scan 750,000 documents using Kodak scanners as part of its move to paper free working. Business process outsourcing firm MISL was scanning partner in an operation which would take more than a year. The project aimed at analysing data of patients to identify previously unknown trends about medical conditions.<ref>{{cite news|title=Freeing Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust from paper: an interview with director of IM&T Will Smart|url=http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/interview/2416135/freeing-royal-free-london-nhs-foundation-trust-from-paper-an-interview-with-director-of-im-t-will-smart|access-date=6 July 2015|publisher=Computing|date=3 July 2015}}</ref>
The trust has access to patients' GP records in the Urgent Care Centre run by [[Haverstock Healthcare]] in its A&E department using the [[EMIS Health|EMIS Web]] integrated clinical IT system. This enables the majority of patients to be sent home with written information on self care or referred to a pharmacy.<ref>{{cite news|title=GP records at A&E means only 10% of patients sent on to main emergency department|url=http://www.thegoodhealthsuite.co.uk/GP/management-staffing/i-t/457-gp-records-at-a-e-means-only-10-of-patients-sent-on-to-main-emergency-department|access-date=9 July 2015|publisher=The Good Health Suite|date=6 July 2015}}</ref>
The trust reported that vacancies had reached 1/6 of the nursing workforce in July 2015.<ref>{{cite news|title=NHS needs thousands of nurses as London wards are shut in 'perfect storm'|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/health/nhs-needs-thousands-of-nurses-as-london-wards-are-shut-in-perfect-storm-10426714.html|access-date=22 August 2015|work=London Evening Standard|date=30 July 2015}}</ref>
In February 2016, it was expecting a deficit of £15m for the year 2015/16.<ref>{{cite news|title=One in four trusts plunge deeper into the red|url=http://www.hsj.co.uk/topics/finance-and-efficiency/exclusive-one-in-four-trusts-plunge-deeper-into-the-red/7002724.article|access-date=22 March 2016|work=Health Service Journal|date=25 February 2016}}</ref> A deficit of  more than £95m was expected for the 2017/18 financial year.<ref>{{cite news|title=Hospital chain trust expects nearly £100m deficit|url=https://www.hsj.co.uk/royal-free-london-nhs-foundation-trust/hospital-chain-trust-expects-nearly-100m-deficit/7021994.article|access-date=25 May 2018|publisher=Health Service Journal|date=22 March 2018}}</ref>
In September 2016, the trust was selected by [[NHS England]] as one of twelve [[Global Digital Exemplar]]s.<ref>{{cite news|title=New plans to expand the use of digital technology across the NHS|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-plans-to-expand-the-use-of-digital-technology-across-the-nhs|access-date=9 September 2016|work=gov.uk|publisher=Department of Health and The Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP|ref=GDE}}</ref>
In a report of the [[Care Quality Commission]] completed in May 2019, the trust's overall ''surgical safety rating'' was downgraded from “good” to “requires improvement”, due to a “large number” of “never events” — incidents so serious they should never have happened — which were partially related to “poor behaviours” by a few consultants at the Royal Free London NHS Trust and failures of the trust's management.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/health/culture-of-bullying-by-surgeons-linked-to-royal-free-blunders-a4139261.html|title='Culture of bullying by surgeons' linked to Royal Free blunders|date=2019-05-10|website=Evening Standard|language=en|access-date=2019-05-12}}</ref>
In November 2020, the trust had 9,050 patients waiting 52 or more weeks for treatment on its elective waiting list, with another 10,542 who had waited 40–52 weeks.<ref>{{cite news |title=Nearly 10,000 year-long waiters at major acute trust |url=https://www.hsj.co.uk/royal-free-london-nhs-foundation-trust/revealed-nearly-10000-year-long-waiters-at-major-acute-trust/7028990.article |access-date=2 January 2021 |publisher=Health Service Journal |date=18 November 2020}}</ref>
==Research==
In partnership with [[UCL Medical School]], the trust has major research activities and is a founding member of [[UCLPartners]], the largest academic health science partnership in Europe, which in addition to the trust comprises [[University College London]], [[Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust]], [[Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust]], and [[University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust]].<ref>{{Cite news | work = The Guardian | title = NHS hospitals to forge £2bn research link-up with university | access-date =19 September 2010| url = https://www.theguardian.com/society/2008/aug/07/health.highereducation | date=7 August 2008 }}</ref>
In 2016, it set up a project with [[DeepMind]] to develop new clinical mobile apps linked to [[electronic patient record]]s.<ref>{{cite news|title=DeepMind announces second NHS partnership|url=http://www.itpro.co.uk/public-sector/27833/deepmind-announces-second-nhs-partnership|access-date=23 December 2016|publisher=IR Pro|date=23 December 2016}}</ref> The first app will be used to detect [[acute kidney injury]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Google Deepmind and Imperial in streams deal|url=http://www.digitalhealth.net/analytics/48382/google-deepmind-and-imperial-in-streams-deal|access-date=18 January 2017|publisher=Digital Health|date=22 December 2016}}</ref>
==Teaching==
Royal Free Hospital is the largest single-site teaching hospital in London and home to one of the three main campuses of [[UCL Medical School]].<ref name=campuses/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/default.aspx?top_nav_id=3&sel_left_nav=55&tab_id=158|title=Research|access-date=6 April 2012|publisher=Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504064838/http://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/default.aspx?top_nav_id=3&sel_left_nav=55&tab_id=158|archive-date=4 May 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The trust is also involved in the training of nurses, midwives and other clinical and non-clinical professionals.
==See also==
* [[UCL Neuroscience]]
* [[Francis Crick Institute]]
* [[Healthcare in London]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* {{Official website}}
* [https://uclpartners.com UCLPartners]
* [https://www.ucl.ac.uk/medical-school/ UCL Medical School]
* [https://www.ucl.ac.uk/school-life-medical-sciences/ UCL School of Life and Medical Sciences]
{{University College London|affiliates}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Health in London]]
[[Category:NHS foundation trusts]]