Purpose Healthcare Chair Elizabeth Butler Founded 1 October 2013 | CEO Tim Higginson Type of business NHS Trust | |
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Formation 1 October 2013; 3 years ago (2013-10-01) Merger of Lewisham Healthcare NHS Trust, Queen Elizabeth Hospital Profiles | ||
Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust is an NHS trust which was formed on 1 October 2013 by the merger of Lewisham Healthcare NHS Trust and Queen Elizabeth Hospital. It is responsible for running two acute hospitals, Queen Elizabeth Hospital and University Hospital Lewisham, in addition to community health services in Lewisham. Despite extensive local opposition and legal challenges in Lewisham, the forced merger came about as part of the dissolution of South London Healthcare NHS Trust - of which Queen Elizabeth was part, but Lewisham was not - and was approved by Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt on 26 September 2013.
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Both hospitals will continue to operate emergency departments, acute medicine services and maternity units following the High Court decision which ruled that the plan to close services at Lewisham Hospital was unlawful, a judgement which was subsequently upheld in the Court of Appeal.
In January 2014, after a public campaign the Trust decided not to outsource the trust's procurement department to Serco.
The Trust was given an £8.5m bailout of public dividend capital by the Department of Health to cover an unexpected deficit for the financial year 2014-15.
Maternity services at lewisham and greenwich nhs trust
Choir
The Trust's choir, the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir, appeared on Gareth Malone's BBC Two competition show The Choir: Sing While You Work in 2013, where they finished second. They reached Christmas number one in 2015 with the charity single "A Bridge over You".