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Healthcare UK: working in partnership

Published 18 December 2013

1. Foreword

The UK has one of the world’s most respected healthcare sectors. Since its creation in 1948, the National Health Service (NHS) has been at the forefront of healthcare delivery, research and training.

Our clinical services and healthcare institutions are world leading, and are underpinned by first-class education, training and regulatory systems. As a system, the NHS has unrivalled expertise in meeting the complex healthcare demands of a diverse population. Over the last 65 years it has earned its international reputation for excellence.

The strengths of the NHS are matched by Britain’s commercial healthcare sector. In the UK, industry has worked very successfully with the NHS to provide innovative solutions to many and varied healthcare challenges.

With increasing healthcare demand and the need to meet the aspirations of their citizens, many countries are embarking on bold programmes of healthcare reform and development leading to new opportunities for close working partnerships with our healthcare institutions and industries. What the UK offers is unique both in terms of its quality and breadth, drawing on the long experience of running the world’s largest integrated national health system.

The UK government has signalled its ambition to create strong healthcare partnerships in launching Healthcare UK, a joint initiative between the Department of Health (DH), the NHS England and UK Trade and Investment (UKTI).

Healthcare UK will showcase the best of the UK’s healthcare: its expertise, innovation and capability for collaboration with health services in countries across the world. It will provide an overview of what the NHS and UK industry as a whole can practically offer to health systems to expand high-quality care. It will work closely to support UK companies and institutions to work with overseas governments and healthcare providers.

Healthcare UK, on behalf of our healthcare sector, is looking forward to the opportunity to create productive and enduring partnerships between British organisations and healthcare providers around the world.

Lord Livingston Minister of State for Trade and Investment

Lord Howe Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Quality

2. Healthcare UK

Healthcare UK is set to increase the UK’s share of the growing global healthcare market by bringing together the unrivalled expertise of the NHS, Britain’s extensive commercial healthcare industry and renowned academic sector to respond to the needs of healthcare providers around the world.

For many years there has been great interest from overseas in the UK’s capabilities, drawing on its unparalleled experience of running the NHS, the world’s largest integrated national health system.

Over the last 2 years, UKTI, the DH and the NHS have worked together to pilot the approach of promoting a unified offer and providing a clear route into UK capabilities for governments and healthcare providers planning significant healthcare developments.

This has proved to be fruitful and Healthcare UK has been established to assist the British healthcare sector to expand its activities overseas.

Healthcare UK brings together expertise from UKTI and the NHS, combining an understanding of the requirements of overseas health systems with in-depth knowledge the UK’s private healthcare sector, the NHS and academia.

Establishing Healthcare UK is transformational, with the knowledge base and quality of service of the Department of Health and the NHS combined with the global reach of UKTI’s network of professional advisors in nearly 100 countries

Howard Lyons, Managing Director, Healthcare UK

3. Working in partnership across the world

Healthcare UK is the bridge between the overseas demand for UK expertise and the UK organisations with the know-how and capabilities for international projects.

Healthcare UK will work with:

• governments
• businesses
• healthcare providers
• academia

It will guide them to the right people and organisations in Britain and helping them to build lasting and fruitful partnerships.

To bring benefits to the UK, Healthcare UK will:

• enable overseas organisations to engage with the UK through a single point of contact
• focus on high value opportunities in countries with ambitious development programmes, including the Middle East along with China, India and Brazil
• develop and respond to government-to-government initiatives
• promote the UK’s capabilities overseas, running campaigns under the Healthcare UK banner

4. Working in partnership in the UK

Healthcare UK will work closely with UK organisations keen to expand their operations overseas. The team will:

• share market intelligence and keep the sector appraised of the evolving needs of health services around the world
• disseminate opportunities across the network of the NHS, healthcare industry and academia
• catalyse the creation of consortia to formulate innovative solutions
• develop professional exchange programmes and the delivery of education and training for healthcare professionals

5. Taking UK expertise to the world

Since 1948, the UK has invested billions of pounds in constantly improving the quality of healthcare available to the people of Great Britain.

Through Healthcare UK, overseas clients can now access the significant benefits of that investment and acquire the know-how to extend their own healthcare provision.

Healthcare UK has identified 5 aspects of healthcare where there is considerable demand and the UK offers a depth of experience and innovative solutions.

6. Primary care

The UK is known for the quality of its primary care.

Healthcare providers around the world are seeking to manage the rising burden of non-communicable diseases. One of the fastest growing categories of patients is those with multiple long-term conditions.

The evidence shows that integrated care, centred on primary care achieves the best results for these patients. Many countries are investing heavily in the development of their primary care services to create a responsive and flexible system for their citizens.

6.1 Partnership in action: primary care training in India: BMJ Masterclasses for GPs

BMJ Masterclasses are the BMJ Group’s programme of live educational meetings that were launched in 2006 to help busy doctors keep up to date with the latest evidence, guidelines and best practice in areas most relevant to them. Since then over 13,000 doctors have attended masterclasses in locations all over the UK and other parts of the world, including India.

Each BMJ Masterclass is interactive and case-based, and gives doctors the opportunity to learn directly from leading speakers, ask questions, and network with the experts and their peers.

In June 2011 the first BMJ Masterclass for General Practitioners (GPs) in India took place when an audience of approximately 1500 participated in a video conference meeting.

The Masterclass was broadcast from London to Mumbai and from there to over 40 centres around India simultaneously. Some centres had two way communications, enabling participants to interact directly with the speakers.

The Masterclass consisted of three sessions on cardiology, respiratory medicine and paediatrics. The speakers were all leading UK doctors and each session lasted for one hour, including time for questions.

Continuing medical education isn’t mandatory in India. However, attracting 1500 Indian GPs to participate in the Masterclass demonstrated that sharing UK expertise under the auspices of a respected organisation, such as the BMJ Group, is a type of education valued in a primary care setting in India.

7. Training and education

The demand for high quality healthcare services is escalating worldwide, driving an expansion of the workforce with the appropriate skills mix. The UK has an enviable clinical and medical education and training system, producing excellent doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals.

7.1 Partnership in action:working collaboratively for healthcare workforce development. Ministry of Health, Kuwait and Sheffield Hallam University

A delegation from the Ministry of Health, Kuwait visited the Faculty of Health & Wellbeing, Sheffield Hallam University in September 2012 to discuss options for the development of nursing services in Kuwait. In 2013 a delegation from Sheffield Hallam University visited Kuwait to observe nursing practice and work collaboratively with Kuwaiti nurses to identify specific training needs.

The aim of this partnership is to develop nursing in Kuwait and, in particular encourage the growth of nurse leadership qualities. This collaborative approach will enable learning to be contextualised within the primary and secondary health care centres in Kuwait. Leadership and administrative skills will be developed to specifically enhance the Kuwaiti healthcare system.

This historic agreement was highlighted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II during a State banquet in honour of Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah.

Her Majesty said she was

encouraged by the news that in the field of nursing, training links are being established between Sheffield Hallam University and the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health.

Her Majesty the Queen’s endorsement cements our reputation as one of the country’s leading providers of healthcare workforce development and research programmes.

Increasingly, we are finding countries such as Kuwait turning to Sheffield Hallam to train its health professionals to equip them with the skills to transform and improve their own medical facilities and services.”

Dr Christine Ferris, Principal Lecturer in Diagnostic Radiography at Sheffield Hallam.

8. Digital health

Healthcare, in common with other areas such as banking, travel and commerce is being improved and transformed by the rapid growth of telecommunications and information technologies. Many healthcare providers see that digital health offers a fresh approach to delivering healthcare.

The UK leads the world in many aspects of digital health, thanks to Britain’s academic base, its visionary clinicians and policy makers, the private companies and public organisations active in the field and the NHS, which is responsible for the commissioning and delivery of care services.

8.1 Partnership in action: establishing a biobank in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. UK Biocentre and the National Guard Health Affairs

UK Biocentre provides an independent centre of excellence to support all aspects of clinical, disease and population-based studies, providing gold standard methods and implementation and the most cost-effective use of human and capital resource.

UK Biocentre is a subsidiary of UK Biobank, building on, and extending, the successful approaches and skills developed in creating the UK Biobank. UK Biobank has recruited 500,000 people aged between 40-69 to study the causes of common diseases of middle and old age. UK Biobank has become a world leader in biological sample management, as well as the setting up of information systems required to run large, population-based studies.

UK Biocentre makes it easier for this knowledge to be passed on to other researchers and organisations, who can also use its state-of-the-art storage facilities for their own samples, avoiding the need to, and cost of, recreating the system elsewhere.

UK Biocentre has recently established a collaboration with the National Guard Health Affairs for the development of a biobank in in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to enable population-based medical research.

9. Infrastructure design, commissioning and operation

Many countries are embarking on major healthcare infrastructure developments, ranging from comprehensive state-of-the-art medical cities to front-line facilities for local communities.

UK companies are leading innovation, integrating new health models within the financing, design, build and operation of healthcare facilities.

9.1 Partnership in action: a state-of-the-art patient-centred hospital leading the regeneration of Montréal. Laing O’Rourke

Laing O’Rourke is one of the four equal equity partners for the CHUM Collectif (alongside OHL, Dalkia and Innisfree). The new hospital will provide over 349,000m² floor space and provide 772 single-bed rooms, together with a new energy centre. The project also includes a 30-year maintenance concession.

Every year, approximately 345,000 outpatients, 22,000 inpatients and 65,000 emergency patients will be seen at CHUM. At CAD$ 2.1bn, CHUM represents the most valuable social infrastructure PPP scheme in Canada’s history and is one of the world’s largest healthcare projects.

As one of the world’s leading providers of state-of-the-art hospitals that meet the innovative needs of the healthcare industry, Laing O’Rouke is employing its advanced offsite construction techniques and expertise in systems integration, engineered to exceptional standards of quality and craftsmanship.

Laing O’Rourke’s building information modelling and offsite manufacturing capabilities enable faster construction and greater standardisation of core components - essential to meeting the demands of Governments striving to complete hospitals faster, better, for less, while ensuring the durability of such heavily utilised facilities over their lifetime.

Our international and local design team captures the expertise, specialist knowledge and solid delivery experience required to bring to fruition CHUM’s vision

Roger Robinson, CEO, Laing O’Rourke Europe Hub

10. Health systems development

Governments across the world engaged in healthcare reforms are undertaking complex changes which require sustained effort to implement. Through its experience of developing and operating the NHS for more than 60 years, the UK has the know-how to support the design and development of all aspects of first class health systems.

Sustainable, high-impact changes in service delivery have also been implemented throughout the NHS which have then been successfully replicated in the overseas setting.

10.1 Partnership in action: implementation of strategic reform in health. PA Consulting and the Executive Council of Dubai

The Ruler of Dubai, Sheik Mohammed, tasked the Executive Council of Dubai with the implementation of the Dubai Strategic Plan. The Council appointed UK professional services provider PA Consulting to define the blueprint for two of the most complex of the new authorities that will be part of the reform programme – health and social development.

Consultants from seven skill groups in PA, ranging from health, organisational change, strategy, international development and delivery contributed to this project. PA produced a one-page strategy for the organisations, developing the scope of the new organisation, the processes, the organisational design, and detailed implementation plans.

The team supported HR, finance and legal and IT working parties in the design of the future support services capabilities in the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), the agencies and the shared service unit based on input from Department of Health and Medical Services (DOHMS), consultation with other relevant stakeholders and best practice.

Equally significant was the cross-cultural nature of the working parties and the efforts invested in gaining buy-in from DOHMS colleagues, which contributed to building the detail necessary for the project and overall reform of the health system.

PA also defined the requirements for support during transition and the capabilities required by the transition teams and the current organisation. PA went on to draw up the detailed strategies and implementation plans for the various agencies agreed during the blueprinting and also create the detailed services implementation plans.

11. Contact Healthcare UK

Healthcare UK is the bridge between overseas demand for UK expertise and the UK organisations with the know-how and capabilities for international projects.

For further information and to discuss how Healthcare UK could assist your organisation, please contact us.

Call : +44 (0)207 215 5000

Email : healthcare.uk@ukti.gis.gov.uk