 The Trust was formed in 1999 at a time when many hospitals were merged for administrative and managerial reasons, in an attempt to create organisations with sufficient 'critical mass' to deal with a range of patient services.However rationalisation of services between the hospitals was slow to materialise, due in part to the PFI structure of Barnet Hospital, and in part to the reluctance of the local population and politicians to countenance concentration of specific services at only one location.The two trust hospitals treat over 500,000 patients per year; these come not only from Barnet and Enfield but also from East Harrow, South Hertfordshire, West Essex and Waltham Forest.