The merger will see North Mid and its community services join the Royal Free London group alongside Barnet Hospital, Chase Farm Hospital and the Royal Free Hospital.

A spokesperson for Royal Free London said: ‘We are thrilled to announce that North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust (North Mid) will become part of the Royal Free London group on 1 January 2025, after the secretary of state for health and social care approved our merger.

‘While there will be no significant changes from day one for our patients, this marks the beginning of a new chapter for both organisations, enabling us to go further and faster in improving services for our patients, delivering more opportunities for staff and enabling better, fairer health for our local communities.'

North Mid has been a clinical partner with the Royal Free London group since 2017 and the trusts been in a formal partnership since 2021.

The merger aims to deliver: reduced waiting times; improved access to specialist care locally; better joined-up community services; greater opportunities to benefit from the latest medical research and trials of new treatments; and more coordinated action to help people stay healthy, with screening and early intervention services tailored to communities.

The trusts announced their intention to come together in January 2024 and developed a full business case for merger. This was approved by the boards of both trusts in July 2024. It was reviewed and approved by NHS England during the autumn. The boards of both trusts ratified their decision to merge in December 2024 and this was followed by the approval of the RFL council of governors and the secretary of state for health and social care.