Europe's largest service for cardiac and respiratory health is created today

New agreement between Imperial College London, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust <em> - News Release</em>

News release
Issued by Imperial College London, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust

For immediate release
Friday 18 June 2010

Imperial College London, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust have come together in a new agreement to undertake joint research studies and explore clinician-led integration of services into joint working units and programmes.

This alliance will bring together more than 460 cardiac and thoracic surgeons, consultants, cardiologists, professors and researchers. Together, they will exploit the critical mass of expertise and patients to deliver world-leading improvements in clinical care, education and research activities relating to heart and lung health.

The collaboration will take a bottom up clinician-led approach and will see patients from the two trusts enrolled in large scale joint research studies. At present the two Trusts provide care for 220,000 patient visits and carry out more than 4,200 cardiac surgery operations and more than 2,000 thoracic surgical procedures every year.

Professor Stephen Smith, chief executive of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, and Principal of the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London, said: "Our shared vision is to lead and be competitive on a global scale in cardiovascular and respiratory healthcare. This collaboration is crucial in breaking down the artificial organisational barriers among acute specialist care providers.

"Our aim is to focus all our collective energy and expertise on dramatically improving research collaboration, clinical care and ultimately patient outcomes."

Bob Bell, chief executive of Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, added: "This alliance will effectively create a cardiac and respiratory 'powerhouse' in the UK, of a unique size and stature, and with the credibility to play a pivotal role on the international stage. Patients will be the ultimate beneficiaries, with the combined expertise of our three organisations offering an unparalleled national collaboration. This will improve outcomes now and facilitate enhanced research into heart and lung disease for future generations.

"This is a significant step forward for cardiac and respiratory care in the UK, and we very much look forward to working closely with our associates over the coming months to identify opportunities for joint research and educational programmes and improved patient care."

Mark Spencer, general practitioner and co-clinical director of NHS North West London, added: "I welcome this collaboration between such leading specialists in cardiac and respiratory healthcare. The strengthening of these relationships will deliver world-leading healthcare for the benefit of patients both locally and from across the UK. I particularly look forward to exploring together the opportunities to improve cardiac and respiratory care in the community, closer to patients' homes."

The alliance of two highly respected Trusts and a leading university builds on existing and developing relationships such as the clinical trials unit and the regional aortic dissection service.

This service sees cardiac and vascular surgeons treating a large number of patients who undergo an emergency procedure to stop blood flowing between layers of the aortic wall.

The combined research capacity will create the scale of operation needed to bid for major projects, thereby attracting grants and funding that could otherwise go abroad. Currently Imperial College Healthcare is supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) through a comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre designation and Royal Brompton & Harefield by way of two Biomedical Research Units, one for cardiovascular and one for respiratory medicine. This strategic alliance will enable an integrated vision of NIHR support with capacity to strengthen the translation of research into improved patient care and outcomes.

The alliance will further benefit from three existing research centres at Imperial College London focused on aspects of cardiovascular and respiratory science. The British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence is exploring innovative ways to prevent, diagnose and treat heart and circulatory disease. The Medical Research Council (MRC)-Health Protection Agency Centre for Environment and Health is analysing the health of people across the UK and how this is affected by aspects of the environment in which they live and work. Lastly, the MRC-Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma is focused on understanding the relationship between asthma and the body's allergic mechanisms.

Investment in cutting-edge research and enhanced training and education opportunities across the three organisations will ensure the brightest talent is attracted and retained in the UK.

The collaboration will form part of the new Imperial College Academic Health Science System. This is an extension of the Imperial College Academic Health Science Centre (AHSC) and will see the AHSC create a system of associates from the tertiary and primary healthcare sectors to explore new patterns of care and achieve greater advances in healthcare delivery and outcomes.

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For further information please contact:

Laura Gallagher
Research Media Relations Manager
Imperial College London
e-mail: l.gallagher@imperial.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)207 594 8432 or ext. 48432
Out of hours duty Press Officer: +44 (0)7803 886 248

Cymbeline Moore
Head of media relations
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust Press Office
Telephone: +44(0)20 3313 3005
Out of hours: call +44(0)20 3312 1234 and ask for the on-call press officer
Email:Cymbeline Moore

Shima Islam
Head of media relations
Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust
Telephone: +44 (0)207 351 8672
Out of hours call: +44 (0)207 352 8121 and ask for the duty press officer
Email: Shima Islam

Notes to Editors:

1. Imperial College Academic Health Science Centre (AHSC) is a unique partnership, formed in October 2007 between Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, whose vision is to improve the quality of life for its patients and populations by taking new discoveries and translating them into new therapies and treatments quicker than ever before. It is focused on research and education as the key drivers to better patient care.

2. The Academic Health Science System is an extension of the existing Health Science Centre model that will see the creation of a system of associates from the tertiary and primary healthcare sectors coming together and exploiting the critical mass of expertise and patients to deliver joint improvements in clinical care, education and research activities.

3. The collaboration will create a critical mass of expertise across the two fields of cardiac and respiratory healthcare as demonstrated by the combined annual data* below:

Coronary artery bypass operations - 1,431
Coronary Angioplasties -4,750
Cardiac Pacemaker implants - 1,232
Patient visits - 222,222
Specialist heart and lung beds - 513
Cardiologists - 99
Cardiac/respiratory consultants - 84
Professors and other researchers (heart and lung disease) - 258
Imperial College London's Faculty of Medicine research funding 2008-9 - Almost £162m - half the spending on research across the College.

*Source: Trust published Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data

4. About Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust comprises Charing Cross, Hammersmith, Queen Charlotte's & Chelsea, St Mary's and Western Eye hospitals. With a turnover in excess of £800 million in 2008-9, it is one of the largest acute Trusts in the country and, in partnership with Imperial College London, is the UK's first Academic Health Science Centre. The Trust employs more than 9,000 staff. www.imperial.nhs.uk

5. About Imperial College London
Consistently rated amongst the world's best universities, Imperial College London is a science-based institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research that attracts 14,000 students and 6,000 staff of the highest international quality. Innovative research at the College explores the interface between science, medicine, engineering and business, delivering practical solutions that improve quality of life and the environment - underpinned by a dynamic enterprise culture.

Since its foundation in 1907, Imperial's contributions to society have included the discovery of penicillin, the development of holography and the foundations of fibre optics. This commitment to the application of research for the benefit of all continues today, with current focuses including interdisciplinary collaborations to improve global health, tackle climate change, develop sustainable sources of energy and address security challenges. www.imperial.ac.uk

6. About Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust
Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust is a national and international specialist heart and lung centre based in Chelsea, London, and Harefield, Middlesex. The Trust helps patients from all age groups who exclusively have heart and lung problems. It is the largest specialist heart and lung centre in the UK and among the largest in Europe, and has an annual turnover in excess of £260 million. In partnership with Imperial College London, the Trust has two designated national biomedical research units, one for cardiovascular and one for respiratory medicine. www.rbht.nhs.uk