Hospital bosses go public on plans to bring Royal Brompton to SE1

The proposal was first aired in public at July's meeting of the Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust board.

Now the NHS and academic organisations involved in the plan have made a public announcement that they are working to establish a formal partnership that could see development of a new purpose-built clinical academic facility on the St Thomas' Hospital and Evelina London Children's Hospital site at Lambeth.

"We are excited to explore the potential benefits that this partnership could bring to patients of all ages," said Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust.

"We believe that combining exceptional specialist services would not only build on our existing high-quality services to offer the best possible care for patients, but it would also give us an unrivalled opportunity to carry out leading research on a larger scale, helping future generations of patients with cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.

"We look forward to working closely with Royal Brompton & Harefield and King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trusts in the coming months."

Professor Sir Robert Lechler, executive director of King's Health Partners, added: "We have identified the potential to create a world-leading centre of excellence and network in cardiovascular and respiratory treatment and research. Our ambition is to create a service that can provide the best possible care to as many patients as possible, both now and in the future."

Any relocation of services would require regulatory approval and would be subject to public consultation.