Barts Health NHS Trust is an

NHS trust An NHS trust is an organisational unit within the National Health Services of England and Wales, generally serving either a geographical area or a specialised function (such as an ambulance service). In any particular location there may be several ...

based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England. Established in 2012, it runs five hospitals throughout the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

and

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the ...

, and is one of the largest NHS trusts in England.

History

The trust was established on 1 April 2012 following the dissolution and merger of Barts and The London NHS Trust, Newham University Hospital NHS Trust and Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust.

Hospitals

The trust runs five hospitals: * Mile End Hospital in

Mile End Mile End is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London, England, east-northeast of Charing Cross. Situated on the London-to-Colchester road, it was one of the earliest suburbs of London. It became part of the m ...

Newham University Hospital Newham University Hospital is an acute general hospital situated in Plaistow in the London Borough of Newham. It is managed by Barts Health NHS Trust. History The hospital was built to replace Queen Mary's Hospital for the East End in Stratfo ...

in Plaistow * Royal London Hospital in

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...

St Bartholomew's Hospital St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust. History Early history Barts was founded in 1123 by Rahere (die ...

in the West Smithfield *

Whipps Cross University Hospital Whipps Cross University Hospital is a large university hospital in the locality of Whipps Cross in Leytonstone and is within Epping Forest in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, London, England. It is managed by Barts Health NHS Trust. His ...

Leytonstone Leytonstone () is an area in east London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, a local authority district of Greater London. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, ...

It also used to run the London Chest Hospital in

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heath Road. By ...

, which closed in 2015. The trust has also taken on formal legal responsibility for the operation of the NHS Nightingale Hospital London, a temporary hospital set up at

ExCeL London ExCeL London (an abbreviation for Exhibition Centre London) is an exhibition centre, international convention centre and former hospital in the Custom House area of Newham, East London. It is situated on a site on the northern quay of the ...

to treat patients during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. On 11 January 2021, the Trust opened the NHS COVID-19 Vaccination Centre, Newham at the

site. On 26th June 2021 the vaccination operation moved to a site at the Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, London. In 2022 the outstanding maintenance bill was £315 million, the fifth largest in the English NHS.

Services

The trust serves a population of over 2.6 million people, in an area characterised by significant diversity and health inequalities. It is one of the largest NHS trusts in England and accounts for 1.5% of hospital activity in England. It provides district general hospital services to the London Boroughs of

Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough covering much of the traditional East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former metropolitan boroughs of Stepney, Poplar, and Bethnal Green. 'Tower Hamlets' was originally ...

Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is a London borough in north-east London, England. Its population is estimated to be 276,983 in 2019. It borders five other London boroughs: Enfield to the north-west, Haringey to the west, Hackney to t ...

and

Newham The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the ...

, and also specialist, or "tertiary", services to a wider area, including some on a national basis. It runs the largest cardiovascular centre in the United Kingdom, the second largest cancer centre in London, and leading stroke and renal units. In addition to its five hospitals, the trust also runs a number of other facilities, including two birthing centres and some dental and primary care services.

Performance

As of March 2021, the trust holds the Requires Improvement rating from the

Care Quality Commission The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care of the United Kingdom. It was established in 2009 to regulate and inspect health and social care services in England. I ...

for the quality of its services. It is rated Good for being effective, caring and well-led. It is rated Requires Improvement for being safe and responsive to people's needs.

Finances

The trust has the largest

private finance initiative The private finance initiative (PFI) was a United Kingdom government procurement policy aimed at creating "public–private partnerships" (PPPs) where private firms are contracted to complete and manage public projects. Initially launched in 19 ...

(PFI) scheme within the NHS in England, with a capital value of £1.149 billion, and spends £116 million on its annual repayments, amounting to around 8% of its annual income.

Overseas patients

The trust issued invoices to patients thought to be ineligible for NHS treatment totaling £10.1 million in 2018–9, but only collected £1.1 million. In 2019-20 it charged 144 women who used the maternity services (out of 14,270 babies delivered that year) but had to cancel 35 of them, presumably because they were actually found to be entitled to NHS services free-at-the-point-of-use. In 2021 it wrote off about £25 million in NHS charges to overseas patients accumulated over the previous ten years.

Patient entertainment (hospital radio)

The Trust is served by two hospital radio services. * Barts Radio (established circa 2016) formally known St Andrews Airwaves and London Chest Radio The station regularly simulcasts programmes from East London Radio. * Bedrock Radio (established 2002) is a registered charity, providing a community health / hospital radio services for East London, South Essex and immediate surrounding areas. Bedrock Radio provides existing hospital radio services exclusively to Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust and North East London NHS Foundation Trust.

References

External links

*
Inspection reports
from the

{{Authority control Barts Health NHS Trust NHS hospital trusts Health in London