NHS Hospitals Aim To Start Clinics In India

By Thomas Moore, Health Correspondent

As many as 20 NHS hospitals are making plans to open lucrative clinics in India, according to a former health secretary.

Patricia Hewitt, who now chairs the UK India Business Council, said between 10 and 20 NHS trusts are in talks with local healthcare providers about opening branches in the country.

The NHS has strong brand recognition in India and UK hospitals hope selling their expertise abroad could generate new income.

"Our ambition is to get as many (NHS trusts, health companies and charities) there as we can," Ms Hewitt told the Health Service Journal.

The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust in North London is in early negotiations with the MIOT Hospital in Chennai to help run a screening programme for the fatal blood disorder thalassemia.

Other NHS organisations, including the Royal Free and King's College hospitals and the London Ambulance Trust, travelled to India in May as part of a delegation led by Cabinet minister Kenneth Clarke.

Patricia Hewitt at a summit in India this January

Ms Hewitt said income from overseas clinics could help the NHS plug a funding gap that is expected to hit £30bn in 2020.

Trusts are allowed to profit from non-NHS services.

India, along with the Middle East, China and Brazil, are being targeted by the cross-government unit Healthcare UK, which acts as a matchmaker for British organisations and possible clients overseas.

The growing middle class in emerging economies are demanding world-standard healthcare that Britain excels at.

King's Heath Partners, a group that includes three London hospital trusts, has signed contracts to open clinics in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

The Department of Health said: "NHS patients will always come first, but we should help and support the health service to compete internationally for the benefit of its patients in England.

"Under no circumstances will the quality of NHS services at home be compromised by the sharing of NHS expertise abroad.

"We have no intention to send NHS patients to India for treatment."

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