About Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Trust
Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Trust is the largest specialist heart and lung centre in the UK and among the largest in Europe. We are unique in this country in helping patients of all ages with heart and lung disease, from babies still in their mother´s womb to patients who are approaching a century of life.
Heart disease is the largest single cause of death in the UK and the West, causing more death in women than breast cancer. Heart failure affects over 750,000 people in the UK, with 65,000 new cases diagnosed every year. 1 in 7 people in the UK are affected by lung disease.
Over the past 160 years, our experts have built up an unsurpassed reputation for finding new ways to treat heart and lung disease. It was at Harefield Hospital that Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub performed Britain´s first heart transplant. In 1965 we founded Europe´s first adult cystic fibrosis clinic at Royal Brompton Hospital. More recently, our heart attack centre at Harefield has pioneered the use of primary angioplasty for heart attacks.
Our vision is a clear one: to be a leading national and international centre for treating heart and lung disease, developing services through research and clinical practice to improve the health of people across the world. A variety of individuals and organisations, not least those who donate money to our work, help us to make this vision a reality.
Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Trust has always been at the forefront of research, innovation and treatment of heart and lung disease:
- We treat patients from across the country, who are referred to us from other hospitals for our specialist expertise. Each year, we treat more than 90,000 outpatients and 26,000 inpatients.
- We are Europe´s top-ranked respiratory research centre, and our cardiac, cardiovascular and critical care teams are rated in the top three most highly cited health research teams in Europe.
- Our services for children were given the highest possible "excellent" rating in the most recent Healthcare Commission survey - only 4% of NHS trusts nationally were given this top rating.
- Royal Brompton & Harefield is a major centre for lung, chest and oesophageal cancers and non-malignant thoracic surgery. We help over 8,000 adults who have breathing problems caused by diseases such as COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), emphysema and severe asthma.
- Our experts have been responsible for major breakthroughs such as transplanting the first heart in Britain; implanting the first coronary stent; founding the largest centre for Cystic Fibrosis in Europe; pioneering intricate heart surgery for newly born infants; and pioneering the use of artificial hearts to save the lives of patients with end stage heart failure who are deteriorating and unable to wait for a heart transplant.
- Our surgeons are pioneering techniques in minimally invasive surgery where only a small incision is made, and the operation carried out through the incision with the help of catheters, cameras and robotic equipment.
Website: www.rbht.nhs.uk