THE Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospital has been granted foundation trust status.

Monitor, the independent regulator of NHS foundation trusts, confirmed Harefield Hospital has achieved trust status today.

Bob Bell, chief executive of the Trust, said: "This is extremely good news. We have always felt that our role as a national specialist heart and lung centre, with an impressive performance record of clinical excellence and financial management, put us in a strong position to achieve foundation status.

"Being a foundation trust will enable us to maker independent decisions more quickly about fundamental aspects of our work- such as developing new services to address the needs of our patients."

For full story buy this week's Harefield Gazette out on Wednesday.