Our Story
East London NHS Foundation Trust (formerly East London and The City University Mental Health NHS Trust) was originally formed in April 2000.
In April 2007, the Trust was awarded university status in recognition of the extensive research and education undertaken in the Trust.
On 1 November 2007, the Trust was authorised to operate as an NHS Foundation Trust under the National Health Service Act 2006.
In February 2011, we integrated with community health services in Newham making us a healthcare provider of both mental health and community health services.
In 2015, we became the provider of mental health, substance misuse, learning disabilities and psychological services for Bedfordshire and Luton. Two years later, on 1 April 2017, Tower Hamlets community health services became part of ELFT.
This was followed by community health services in Bedfordshire joining the Trust on 1 April 2018.
We provide primary care services in Newham (transitional GP practice), Tower Hamlets (Health E1) and Hackney (The Greenhouse) – GP practices specialising in support for homeless people.
The Trust was rated ‘outstanding’ by the CQC in September 2016 and again in April 2018. In January 2022, the Trust was rated ‘outstanding’ for the third time in a row, the first community and mental health Trust in the country to attain this. The outcome of our latest inspection is pending.
Our quality improvement (QI) work is nationally and internationally renowned. We are an ‘anchor organisation’ rooted in our locations alongside our communities.
Working as an anchor organisation means we have a unique opportunity to improve the health of our communities through procurement, as an employer, through use of our land and buildings and by being environmentally sustainable.
We aim to provide benefit to the local community as much as possible throughout our work as a Trust.