The two trusts, which have been working closely in partnership with one chair since 2020, a single executive leadership team since 2022 and increasingly shared Board governance, joined to become Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust on 1 November.

Jo Farrar, chief executive of Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust, said: ‘We're excited to have the support of local people and our partners, to bring together our hospital and community services in this way. For local people, this means care and treatment will be well coordinated and smooth as they move between services, whether in our hospitals or receiving care in their own homes.

‘For our staff, this merger means more opportunities for collaboration, professional growth and shared resources. This will also help us to align with the national priorities to shift care out of hospital closer to home, support the shift from analogue to digital, and increase our focus on wellness and prevention as opposed to reactively facing up to ill-health.'

Having agreed a single set of objectives in May last year, the decision to merge was agreed and submitted to the NHSE in the summer 2023.