The NHS England Board endorsed an approach for the development of cardiovascular and respiratory services in London at its meeting on 30 January 2020. This included a commitment to ensuring adequate cardiovascular and respiratory care provision in north west London, while pursuing a merger between Guy's & St Thomas' and the Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trusts.

Maintaining NHS services in north west London aligned to established academic programmes in cardiovascular and respiratory medicine is in line with proposals that the College is progressing in partnership with Imperial College Healthcare NHS and Chelsea & Westminster NHS Foundation Trusts, as set out in November 2018 in ‘Healthier hearts and lungs’. Our proposals include the development of an integrated children’s service for west London, an associated academic centre for child health, and a cardiovascular and respiratory centre of excellence.

An integral part of Imperial’s Faculty of Medicine, the National Heart & Lung Institute (NHLI) is the top academic centre in the UK for cardiovascular and respiratory research and teaching, and a beacon of academic excellence throughout the world. Working with north west London NHS partners, the NHLI has pioneered major improvements in patient care, locally, nationally, and internationally. Over the last 20 years this has led to new treatments for asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hay fever and anaphylaxis, coronary artery disease, chronic respiratory failure, hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, aortic disease and pulmonary hypertension.

Imperial is committed to maintaining NHLI’s track record of excellence in education, innovation and impact, and welcomes the opportunity to continue working with its partners to deliver a bright future for north west London and beyond.