[guide.chat] n h s to be sold over seas

From: vanessa <qwerty1234567a@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "GUIDE CHAT" <guide.chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2012 02:44:10 +0100
NHS 'brand' could be sold overseas to generate income for hospitals
Government suggests service could learn from the lucrative success of US firms 
which have established themselves abroad
Sarah Boseley, health editor
The Guardian, Tuesday 21 August 2012
 
Moorfields Eye Hospital already profits from running clinics in the Middle 
East, an example the government thinks the NHS could follow. Photograph: Rex 
Features
Hospitals are to be encouraged by the government to sell their services abroad, 
setting up clinics with the famous NHS brand to pull in much-needed cash for 
the health service from overseas.

The scheme ? which has been put together by the Department of Health (DH) and 
the UK Trade and Investment department (UKTI) ? attracted immediate criticism 
from the Patients Association, concerned that in times of financial stringency 
at home, establishing overseas clinics would be a distraction too far and could 
undermine standards at home.

But the government points to clinics that already exist, run by big-name NHS 
trusts with a reputation around the world, such as Moorfields Eye Hospital and 
Great Ormond Street children's hospital in the Middle East. The government 
thinks there could be lucrative possibilities for NHS-standard healthcare 
services in growing markets such as India and China.

It also points to work that has already been undertaken in Libya by an NHS 
ambulance trust, which is helping to set up emergency services, while Virgin 
healthcare, with NHS GPs, is in discussions with Abu Dhabi about the provision 
of primary healthcare services.

UKTI and the DH think that the NHS could learn from the success of some of the 
major American brands, such as the private Mayo clinics and Johns Hopkins in 
Baltimore, which have established themselves abroad.

The health minister Anne Milton said the NHS would benefit and not suffer from 
the diversification.

"This is good news for NHS patients, who will get better services at their 
local hospital as a result of the work the NHS is doing abroad and the extra 
investment that will generate," she said.

"This is also good news for the economy, which will benefit from the extra jobs 
and revenue created by our highly successful life sciences industries as they 
trade more across the globe.

"The NHS has a world class reputation and this exciting development will make 
the most of that to deliver real benefits for both patients and taxpayers."

But critics of the healthcare reforms, already alarmed at the increased 
opportunity for private companies to take over parts of the NHS, are unlikely 
to feel comfortable about NHS hospitals drumming up private custom overseas.

Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, told the 
Independent: "The guiding principle of the NHS must be to ensure that outcomes 
and care for patients comes before profits.

"At a time of huge upheaval in the health service, when waiting times are 
rising and trusts are being asked to make £20 billion of efficiency savings, 
this is another concerning distraction. The priority of the government, 
hospital trusts and clinicians should be NHS patients."

The DH said there would be very careful oversight of any clinics set up by the 
NHS in other countries by a board newly constituted by the DH and UKTI called 
Healthcare UK. "Any activity proposed by NHS Trusts will be overseen by 
Healthcare UK," said a spokesman, insisting that standards of healthcare at 
home would not be compromised. The board is said to be recruiting a managing 
director at a salary of £100,000 to encourage NHS Trusts to move into the 
foreign market.


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[guide.chat] n h s to be sold over seas

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