King’s Health Partners launches vision of reimagined health and care system

King’s Health Partners has launched our vision of a reimagined health and care system informed by people, education, research, and innovation. 

Our new strategy to 2030, which launched on Monday (16 June), sets out how the partnership will pioneer better health for all, together, and make a tangible difference to our communities.

Founded in 2009, King’s Health Partners (KHP) is a partnership of three major London NHS Foundation Trusts - Guy’s and St Thomas’, King’s College Hospital, and South London and Maudsley - and world-leading university, King’s College London.

The strategy explains how KHP will continue to work together to be much more than the sum of our parts and strive to transform lives in south east London and beyond.

KHP will connect our partners, build capacity in people through education and training, and create opportunities for innovation in research, education, and care. No individual partner can do it alone.

Prof Graham Lord, Executive Director of KHP, says:

Our strategy to 2030 sets out our bold vision of a reimagined health and care system that truly meets the needs of patients, healthcare professionals, and communities.

For this to become a reality, clinical academic partnerships are critically important.

This frontier shift – powered by partnership – will provide patients with timely access to integrated healthcare, equitable health outcomes, and greater workforce and financial stability in the face of increasing demands and overwhelming financial pressures. We are stronger and can do more for people’s health, together.

To achieve system transformation by 2030, KHP is committed to leverage our collective strengths in three priority areas:

• delivering personalised health – tailored to individuals' unique characteristics and needs across prevention, diagnosis, and treatment;
• accelerating digital health – bridging the gap between the translation of digital health and data technologies into clinical and commercial impact; and
• improving population health – deepening the understanding of our population’s needs, generating evidence for how to achieve more accessible and equitable care.

Dr Catherine French, Director of Strategy at KHP, says:

It has been a real privilege to co-develop the KHP strategy over the last year on behalf of our partners, and I would like to thank the 1,000 people who have shared their time, thoughts and ideas.  

Our strategy reflects our shared commitment to deliver impact for people - the patients and communities we serve, and our staff and students, by harnessing the power of our unique clinical academic partnership.  I now look forward to working with the brilliant people across King's Health Partners to deliver on our ambitions laid out in the strategy.

The strategy is underpinned by KHP’s unique mind and body approach – integrating mental and physical health into everything we do. This along with the co-creation with patients and communities, and equity, diversity, and inclusion, are the golden threads that run through the strategy.

Lenna Cumberbatch, patient representative on the KHP Haematology Programme Board, says:

I was born at Guy’s Hospital and have lived most of my life in Southwark, Lambeth, and Lewisham benefitting from the outstanding care that the hospital partners have provided to me over the years. 

Being a patient representative was my way to give back to the NHS and my community by contributing to ensuring that the progress and improvements that the NHS needs includes the voices of patients. 

With the work of clinical academic partnerships like the one at KHP I know that we can continue to work together to expedite learning, improve patient care experiences, and address the health inequalities that too many in my community can face.

Reaction from KHP partners

Prof Ian Abbs, Chief Executive of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, says:

This new strategy highlights how crucial our collaboration is. By bringing together world-class research, pioneering education, and dedicated clinical care we unlock transformative health outcomes.

For the local communities we serve, this strategy will lead to tangible improvements to their everyday health and wellbeing – from earlier diagnoses and innovative treatments to a healthier, more equitable future, built on the shared expertise and unwavering commitment of all our partners.

David Bradley, Chief Executive of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, says:

King’s Health Partners’ new strategy emphasises how by joining efforts we can lead the future of health care, for the benefits of services users, staff and communities in London and beyond.

At a time of national level changes and increased pressures on the front line, it is even more important to work together in partnership and challenge ourselves to think strategically so I’m pleased to see our joint ambition to bring research, education and clinical practice closely together renewed for the next five years. Our Trust is fully committed to supporting KHP’s world leading programmes – such as Mind and Body which drives the integration of mental and physical healthcare.

Prof Clive Kay, Chief Executive of King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, says:

The new KHP strategy demonstrates each partner’s resolute commitment to working collaboratively in an ever-evolving healthcare landscape.

Our strength as partners is that we bring together excellence in research, education and frontline clinical care – for both physical and mental health – and harness the latest technology and treatments for the benefit of our patients locally, regionally and nationally.

Prof Shitij Kapur, Vice-Chancellor and President of King’s College London, says:

Research and education must be at the heart of a reimagined health and care system, and the impact of our clinical academic partnership is already being felt across a range of initiatives tackling diverse challenges – from addressing health workforce pressures and reducing inequalities in palliative care, to advancing the safe and responsible use of AI, and driving breakthroughs such as the discovery and approval of a new gene therapy for sickle cell anaemia.

Ranked 1st in the world for Nursing and 11th for Life Sciences and Medicine (QS World Rankings 2025), King’s is at the forefront of transformative research in health and care. Our clinical partnership with KHP not only accelerates the translation of discovery into action, it also ensures our students are equipped to become the healthcare leaders of tomorrow.

To read the strategy in full, visit its dedicated page on the KHP website here.

KHP strategy at glance