Britain wants India to gain public health expertise from NHS

The British government would like to offer the expertise of its famed public health system, the National Health Services (NHS), to India in a sort of “returning the favour in kind.” A 26 member UK health business delegation that includes universities, hospitals and private companies in various aspects of healthcare services and management that is visiting Tamil Nadu will seek to establish partnerships in healthcare with the state. [caption id=“attachment_757797” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  British Minister Kenneth Clarke arrives in Downing Street, central London. AFP[/caption] British Cabinet Minister and the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy, Rt. Hon. Kenneth Clarke who leads the delegation said: “many people say that the National Health Service is the closest thing the British have to a religion. But what they don’t know is that our NHS was only actually built with the help of Indian doctors, and continues to rely on them.” Because of the NHS, people in Britain has the fasted access to general physicians in the world. He said his country is also a world leader in organising and administering first class medical care. The companies that are travelling with him to Tamil Nadu are keen to share such expertise with India, he said. The delegation will meet with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and senior health department officials. Clarke will speak at a conference hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on ‘Indo-UK Collaboration in Healthcare’. He will also inaugurate the Haemato-Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at MIOT Hospitals, which involves a new technology partnership with the UK’s Whittington Hospital. He will also visit Apollo Hospitals. The UK health business delegation includes senior representatives from Healthcare UK, A4e, Brit Health Care, Serco Health, BMJ Group, BT Health, London Ambulance Service, Royal Free Hospital, 3DiFM, Sheffield Hallam University, PCTI, Run Healthcare, TPP, Hurley Group, Downtown Engineering Consultants, DMC Healthcare and Boomerang Consultancy.