The planned merger of two hospital trusts has started, with key administration systems now connected.

North West London Hospitals NHS Trust and Ealing Hospital NHS Trust have successfully aligned their patient administration systems to help with a planned merger later this year.

The system will now look after the records of around 3.6 million people in the Harrow, Brent and Ealing area.

The merger of the two trusts was announced just over two years ago and is due to take place later this year.

With the connection of the two systems the trust’s hope to integrate other key areas including clinical systems in, including A&E, radiology and bed management.

Kevin Connolly, who is working on the merger for the two trusts, said: “The project itself was a major undertaking, but we are delighted that it has been successfully delivered, on time and to budget.”