UK Government visits Manila to strengthen healthcare partnerships
The UK Government were delighted to bring 8 NHS organisations to connect and share their expertise with other healthcare experts from across the region, and their cutting-edge solutions that are tackling some of the major challenges of modern healthcare.
- Major UK healthcare trade mission visits Philippines to explore collaborations and partnerships.
- First-of-its-kind Twinning Partnership signed between Pasig City, Philippines and West Yorkshire, UK on healthcare, research and innovation.
- DoH Secretary Herbosa and Nurse May Parsons are guests of honour at reception celebrating 75th Anniversary of the UK’s National Health Service.
The UK’s Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and the British Embassy in Manila hosted a Trade Mission last 29 November – 1 December composed of National Health Service (NHS) Organisations who met with healthcare leaders in the Philippines to explore collaborations and partnerships; helping the UK to further strengthen trade ties within the region.
The delegation met with senior government leaders and public and private hospitals in the Philippines, including a visit to the Cardinal Santos Medical Center. The UK shared their healthcare challenges and described the innovations that are helping to overcome these, and were interested to learn more about Philippine healthcare models. The visit demonstrated the importance of UK – Philippines relations and will hopefully open up many more healthcare collaborations in the future.
The visit saw the signing of a Twinning Partnership between West Yorkshire and Pasig City local governments that will create opportunities to strengthen and grow research, innovation and commercial in the Healthcare sector. The MoU was signed by Mayor Vico Sotto and Richard Stubbs, CEO of Health Innovation Yorkshire and Humber. This first-of-its-kind Twinning Partnership will take forward the development of the Philippines’ first digitised patient registry for primary care. The digitised registry, first launched through the UK’s Better Health Programme, is already benefitting up to 1 million patients seeking public healthcare in barangay health centres across Pasig City and Iloilo City.
British Ambassador to the Philippines, Laure Beaufils, hosted a reception to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the NHS, attended by partners in the Healthcare community and guests of honour Nurse May Parsons and Department of Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa. Welcoming the trade mission, the Ambassador said:
As we celebrate the great milestone of 75 years of the UK’s National Health Service, I am delighted that the UK and the Philippines are coming together to explore new, innovative health partnerships. This week, we welcomed a senior health delegation from the UK led by the Department of Business and Trade’s Healthcare UK team. We launched a pilot Twinning Partnership – the first of its kind – between West Yorkshire and Pasig City to enable greater collaboration in Healthcare, Research and Innovation, and to support partnerships with public health and the private sector.
Lindsey Gilbert-Crouch, Country Director for Trade and Investment shared that:
The UK’s leading NHS hospitals want to work with partner countries overseas to share our 75 years’ experience of innovation using research based clinical pathways, the most advanced science and excellent training, equipment, and digital system. We feel that there is much that the UK and the Philippines can learn from one another to ensure the best possible healthcare outcomes for our people.
The NHS in England also became the world’s first health service to commit to reaching carbon net zero – by 2040 for the emissions it controls itself, and by 2045 for the emissions it influences, with the Greener NHS programme.
As in most countries globally, UK demographic changes are powerfully shaping the demand for digital healthcare solutions to transform patient treatments. With an escalating prevalence of non-communicable diseases, it has become crucial to proactively identify smarter ways to effectively address these ever-growing healthcare needs. The UK has a strong track record of scientific breakthroughs and is delivering the next generation of life-changing treatments, technologies and services, from personalised healthcare, oncology, cardiology, diabetes, genomics, digital health and AI and cutting-edge medical technology and looks forward to new collaborations to ensure that the UK and the Philippines continue to pursue international success together.
The UK delegation includes: Aire Logic, Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber, Modality Partnership, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Royal Royal College of General Practitioners, UCL Global Business School for Health, University of Bradford, University of Leeds, & West Yorkshire NHS Integrated Care Board.
Notes to Editors
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is responsible for securing UK and global prosperity by promoting and financing international trade and investment, and championing free trade.
Healthcare UK, is a joint initiative of NHS England, The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Department for Business and Trade.
NHS 75th Anniversary
- This year, the UK’s National Health Service is celebrating 75 years.
- When it was founded in 1948, the NHS was the first universal health system to be available to all, free at the point of delivery.
- Treating over a million people a day in England, the National Health Service touches the lives of everyone in Britain.
For more information, request images or arrange an interview with please contact: Nicola.Parry@businessandtrade.gov.uk and Cara.SanPedro@fcdo.gov.uk