The hospitals which now form part of UCLH or which contributed to its development were all originally established as charities which relied on public donations and subscriptions for their income. The oldest of these was the Middlesex Hospital, which was founded in 1745 and was one of the five voluntary general hospitals which were established in London during the 18th century (the others being Westminster Hospital (1719), Guy's Hospital (1721), St George's Hospital (1733), and the Royal London Hospital (1740).[5]
20th century
In 1948 the National Health Service was established, making most hospitals in the UK directly controlled by the public sector and funded by public taxation. Hospitals were grouped together into regional hospital management committees or teaching hospital groups. Following major NHS reforms UCL Hospitals NHS Trust was established in 1994, comprising the Middlesex Hospital, the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital, the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and University College Hospital.[5] In 1996 The Eastman Dental Hospital and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery joined the UCLH NHS Trust.
2000 to 2010
In August 2001 the private Heart Hospital was acquired by UCLH and became the new home for all of the Trust's cardiac services, which had previously been housed in the Middlesex Hospital.[5] In 2002 the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital joined UCLH and in July 2004 UCLH was one of the first NHS trusts to be granted foundation trust status.[5]
In 2005 the new University College Hospital building was opened and all activities from the Middlesex Hospital were moved into the new building.[6] The Middlesex Hospital was closed in December 2005 and the site sold to developers.
In November 2009 the University College Hospital Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Wing was opened and most activities from the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital were moved into the new building.[7]
In February 2009 Professor Sir Cyril Chantler was appointed as the first Chair of UCL Partners and it was officially designated as an academic health science centre by the UK Department of Health in March 2009.[9]
2010 to present
In April 2012 it was announced that UCLH had been selected by the UK Government as one of two sites in England for the provision of Proton Beam Therapy (PBT) (the other being the Christie Hospital in Manchester).[10] In 2015 the Trust began construction of a new clinical facility adjacent to University College Hospital to house the PBT facilities, and to also contain Europe’s largest haematological inpatient service and a short stay surgical centre.[11] The facility is planned to open in 2019.[12]
In August 2016 a partnership between the trust and Google's artificial intelligence division, DeepMind, was announced, as part of which anonymised CT and MRI scans from former University College Hospital radiotherapy patients will be utilised to help develop an algorithm that can automatically differentiate between healthy and cancerous tissues.[18][19]
In October 2019 services from the Eastman Dental Hospital and the Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital moved to a new facility, the Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals on Huntley Street, WC1E 6DG. The Eastman Dental Hospital site closed to patients. The Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital on Gray's Inn Road remains open for wards, theatres, sleep diagnostics and allergy day case services.
The trust was rated 'worse than expected' over care for women giving birth.[20]
University College Hospital at Westmoreland Street is a hospital which provides thoracic surgery and urology services. Prior to 2015 the hospital was a specialist cardiology hospital; all cardiac services moved to one site at St Bartholomew’s Hospital following agreement by UCLH and Barts Health NHS Trust to combine their specialist cardiovascular services at the one site.
UCH Macmillan Cancer Centre is a specialist cancer hospital located adjacent to University College Hospital. The Centre opened in April 2012, with significant support from the UCL Hospitals Charitable Foundation.[21]
The Eastman Dental Hospital is a specialist hospital for dental treatment located on Gray's Inn Road in the Bloomsbury area of Central London. In partnership with the UCL Eastman Dental Institute, which occupies the same site, the hospital is a major centre for dental research and the largest provider of postgraduate teaching and training in dentistry in Europe.[22]
The Hospital for Tropical Diseases is a specialist tropical disease hospital located in central London. It is the only NHS hospital dedicated to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of tropical diseases and travel-related infections. In addition to specialists in major tropical diseases such as Malaria, Leprosy and tuberculosis. It also provides an infectious disease treatment service.
The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery is a neurological hospital located on Queen Square in Bloomsbury. It was the first hospital to be established in England dedicated exclusively to treating the diseases of the nervous system. In partnership with the UCL Institute of Neurology, which occupies the same site, the hospital is a major centre for neuroscience research.[23] It supports the Sir William Gowers Epilepsy Assessment Unit at the National Society for Epilepsy Centre at Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire. The NHNN also runs The National Brain Appeal, a charity dedicated to supporting the Hospital for the funding of equipment, buildings and research.
The Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine is a specialist alternative medicine hospital located in Bloomsbury, adjacent to Great Ormond Street Hospital.[24] It is the largest public sector provider of complementary medicine in Europe.[24]
The Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine offers clinical services including complementary cancer treatments, allergy services, acupuncture, homeopathy, rheumatology, weight loss management, sleep management, musculoskeletal medicine and stress management, and has access to conventional medicine.[24] It has an education department which offers full and part-time courses in complementary medicine for registered health professionals. It is also home to a specialist library for complementary and alternative medicine.
The Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Obstetric Hospital was a maternity and neonatal services hospital in Bloomsbury. The hospital was closed in November 2008 when its services moved to the newly constructed University College Hospital Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Wing.
The Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of central London. The hospital was opened by surgeon Charles Bell in 1745 on Windmill Street and moved to Mortimer Street in 1757. The hospital was closed in 2005 when its staff and services were transferred to various sites within UCLH. The Middlesex Hospital Medical School, with a history dating back to 1746, merged with the medical school of UCL in 1987.
Organisation
UCLH has a Board of Directors and Chief Executive (currently David Probert) of the Trust.[25] The role of the Board is to:
set the overall policy and strategic direction for the Trust;
approve and monitor the Trust's business plans, budgets and major capital expenditure;
monitor performance against objectives; and
provide members of the Trust's committees such as the remuneration committee and audit committee.[25]
UCLH also has a Governing Body which helps the Trust to develop and shape its services, to improve communication between the Trust's members, patients and local communities, and influences Trust decisions.[26] The Governing Body is composed of 33 governors, 23 of whom are elected by the Trust's patient, public and staff members, of whom three represent the local public, 14 represent patients and six represent Trust staff.[26] 10 other governors are appointed by local partner organisations including the primary care trust and UCL.[26] Elections to the Governing Body are held each year.[26]
UCL Medical School provides core medical education at three UCLH hospitals - University College Hospital, the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery and University College Hospital at Westmoreland Street.[34] UCLH also has close training and education links for nursing, midwifery and other allied health professionals with City University London, London South Bank University and King's College London.[4]
The trust expected to finish 2015-16 with a deficit of more than £22 million as a result of changes to the NHS tariff.[36] In February 2016 it was expecting a deficit of £32.5 million for the year 2015/6.[37]
The trust complained in June 2015 that commissioners outside England use a "burdensome" prior approval process, where a funding agreement is needed before each stage of treatment. At the end of 2014-15 the trust was owed more than £2.3m for treating patients from outside England.[38]
It was named by the Health Service Journal as one of the top hundred NHS trusts to work for in 2015. At that time it had 7657 full-time equivalent staff and a sickness absence rate of 3.38%. 83% of staff recommend it as a place for treatment and 70% recommended it as a place to work.[39]
In 2020 it signed a hard facilities management contract with CBRE Group, worth £85 million over five years and a soft facilities management contract with Medirest also for five years, for £151 million. These do not include the University College Hospital building on Euston Road, which is managed as part of the trust’s PFI deal or the trust headquarters.[40]
^ abcd"UCLH fact file". University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Archived from the original on 10 November 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
^ abcd"UCLH trust chronology". University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Archived from the original on 11 April 2009. Retrieved 10 September 2010.