Partnership working
King's Health Partners
King’s is a key partner in one of London's foremost Academic Health Science Centres: King's Health Partners (KHP).
An Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is an organisation which delivers healthcare to patients and undertakes health-related science and research. It usually has a well developed role in teaching and education as well. This type of organisation is fairly common among the leading hospitals and universities around the world.
King’s Health Partners is one of only six Department of Health-designated AHSCs in England. It brings together a world-leading research-led university – King’s College London – and three successful NHS Foundation Trusts: Guy’s and St Thomas’, King’s College Hospital and South London and Maudsley.
Our aim is to create a centre where world-class research, teaching and clinical practice are brought together for the benefit of patients. We want to make sure that the lessons from research are used more swiftly, effectively and systematically to improve healthcare services for people with physical and mental health problems. This is about providing a world-class service.
At the same time as competing on the international stage, our focus remains on providing local people with the very best that the NHS has to offer. King’s Health Partners will bring real and lasting benefits to the communities of south London. Local people will continue to benefit from access to world-leading healthcare experts and clinical services which are underpinned by the latest research knowledge. There will also be benefits for the local area in regeneration, education, jobs and economic growth.
The South East London Acute Provider Collaborative
King’s is part of the South East London Acute Provider Collaborative. The South East London Acute Provider Collaborative is a partnership between King’s, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust.
The partnership is designed to improve care for patients, as well as opportunities for staff based at all three NHS Trusts. It does this through closer working, greater sharing of best practice, and better planning and pooling of resources to avoid duplication.
All three NHS Trusts will continue to deliver services for patients in much the same way as they always have done. However, greater partnership working between the three Trusts – most recently during the COVID-19 pandemic – has demonstrated the value of closer working between the different partners.
An example of how the partnership works in practice is the use of operating theatres at Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup by surgical teams from King’s, Guy’s and St Thomas’ and Lewisham and Greenwich.
This partnership has enhanced our ability to ensure patients get the care and treatment they need, whilst also ensuring teams from the three NHS Trusts work together in a co-ordinated way, which makes the best use of the resources at our disposal.
Other important partnerships
To help us deliver our services and improve our patient services, we also have key working relationships with a range of local partners including other NHS organisations, community groups, professional bodies and local organisations with statutory responsibilities.
Local NHS Trusts
- St George's Healthcare NHS Trust
- Croydon Health Services NHS Trust
- Lewisham and Greenwich Healthcare NHS Trust
Clinical Commissioning Groups
Local Authorities
- London Borough of Lambeth
- London Borough of Southwark
- London Borough of Bromley
- London Borough of Bexley
- Royal Borough of Greenwich
- London Borough of Lewisham