About us

Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals known for leading innovation, reducing inequalities, and transforming lives by championing excellence and providing outstanding healthcare.

We’re moving towards a future that focuses on combining specialties and clinical expertise, prevents ill health, embraces digital innovation, and expands our care closer to home. Aligned with national NHS goals, this transformation puts patients first and is shaped by the experiences, insights and voices of the people we treat.

Our hospitals at the heart of east London

We are with you for every moment of your healthcare journey. From diagnosis to recovery, we will provide seamless, innovative, and equitable hospital care for all our patients – as we build a healthier future for generations to come across east London and beyond.

The services we offer are driven by the unique needs of our people in one of the most diverse and fast-growing populations with some of the most deprived and under-privileged communities in the country. Every day, we provide a mix of specialist and routine care for over 7,000 people across five hospitals.

Working as a group of hospitals enables us to combine our strengths, share expertise, and deliver consistent, high-quality care for more than 2.5 million people.

Our hospitals:

Each hospital has a unique mix of specialist skills and cares for their local communities:

The Royal London Hospital is one of the biggest hospitals in London, combining specialist centres of excellence with routine care for people in Tower Hamlets. It is home to a major trauma centre, hyper-acute stroke services, and the London Air Ambulance. It also provides cutting-edge complex surgery, critical care, renal services and dentistry as well as having one of the UK’s largest children’s hospitals.
St Bartholomew’s Hospital in the City, the oldest hospital in the country, is now a world-class centre for cardiac and cancer care, the largest heart hospital in the UK and one of London’s top cancer centres, serving patients from beyond the capital.
Whipps Cross Hospital is a busy local hospital serving Waltham Forest and Redbridge while developing specialist expertise in frailty and care for older people to meet local needs and become a group centre of excellence.
Newham Hospital is a busy local hospital and a centre of excellence for planned orthopaedic surgery, as well as having a busy emergency department and a large maternity unit.
Mile End Hospital is a community hospital hosting diagnostics, rehabilitation, long-term condition management and mental health services.

We’re part of UCLPartners, Europe’s largest academic health science partnership, and work with Queen Mary University of London and others to bring the latest research and innovation into everyday clinical care through our Barts Life Sciences partnership.

Our vision and values

Our WeCare values shape everything that we do, every single day. They are visible in every interaction we have with each other, our patients, their families and our partners.

WeCare about everything from the appointment letters our patients receive, to the state of our facilities when they walk through the door, to the care and compassion they receive when they are discharged.

We have come a long way on our journey to delivering safe and compassionate care. By embracing these values as the way we behave around here, we will achieve our ambition for excellence.

Our vision: to be a high performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond.

Our commitment to patients

These five statements describe our commitment to patients. All staff, in all roles, use them to help ensure that we listen to patients and deliver excellent patient experiences for all.

Valuing patient voices

Welcoming

Behaviours

Introduce yourself by saying “Hello, my name is …”
Smile and acknowledge the other person(s) presence
Treat others as you would wish others to treat you
Ensure the environment is safe and pleasant for our patients, our colleagues and our visitors

Engaging

Behaviours

Get involved in making improvements and bring others with you
Encourage feedback from patients and colleagues and respond to it
Use feedback to make improvements, and empower colleagues to do this without needing to seek permission
Appreciate that this may be a new experience for patients and colleagues; help them to become comfortable
Acknowledge efforts and successes; say thank you

Collaborative

Behaviours

Give time and energy to developing relationships within and outside own team
Demonstrate pride in Team Barts Health
Respect and utilise the expertise of colleagues
Know your own and others’ part in the plan

Accountable

Behaviours

Always strive for the highest possible standard
Fulfil all commitments made to colleagues, supervisors, patients and customers
Admit mistakes, misjudgments, or errors; immediately inform others when unable to meet a commitment; don’t be afraid to speak up to do the right thing
Do not pretend to have all the answers; actively seek out those who can help
Take personal responsibility for tough decisions and see efforts through to completion

Respectful

Behaviours

Be helpful, courteous and patient
Remain calm, measured and balanced in challenging situations
Show sensitivity to others’ needs and be aware of your own impact
Encourage others to talk openly and share their concerns

Equitable

Behaviours

Value the perspectives and contributions of all and that all backgrounds are respected
Recognise that individuals may have different strengths and needs, and that different cultures may impact how people think and behave. Be curious to find out
Work to enact policies, procedures and processes fairly
Be open to change and encourage open, honest conversation that helps foster an inclusive work and learning environment
Remember that we all have conscious and unconscious bias; get to know what yours are, and work to mitigate them