Can the UK’s NHS export services overseas?

The UK government is launching a new initiative to sell NHS services overseas. Hospitals are to be encouraged by the government to sell their services abroad, setting up clinics to pull in much-needed cash for the health service from overseas. Healthcare UK is being set up in the next few weeks by the Department of Health and UK Trade and Investment to act as a consultant for hospitals and potential overseas clients. The body will also represent private healthcare firms including health insurer Bupa.

The UK government is launching a new initiative to sell NHS services overseas. Hospitals are to be encouraged by the government to sell their services abroad, setting up clinics to pull in much-needed cash for the health service from overseas.

Healthcare UK is being set up in the next few weeks by the Department of Health and UK Trade and Investment to act as a consultant for hospitals and potential overseas clients. The body will also represent private healthcare firms including health insurer Bupa.

The logic is that the NHS could learn from the success of major American brands, such as Mayo Clinics and Johns Hopkins that have established themselves abroad in several countries in partnership with local providers.

Health minister Anne Milton says,” 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. The NHS has a world class reputation and this will make the most of that to deliver real benefits for both patients and taxpayers.”

But critics of the healthcare reforms that are effectively cutting what the government spends on the NHS are uncomfortable about NHS hospitals drumming up private custom overseas. Katherine Murphy of the Patients Association says, “The guiding principle of the NHS must be to ensure that outcomes and care for patients comes before profits. Waiting times are rising and trusts are being asked to make £20 billion of efficiency savings, this is a distraction.”

Andrew Hine of KPMG comments,” The precedent for exporting the expertise of the NHS has existed for some time, as many of the health services offered have long been used to treat patients privately within the UK. Not only does it afford the NHS a chance to develop a sustainable revenue stream; it will allow one of the world’s largest employers to attract and retain top talent by offering global career opportunities. The NHS has proven time and again that it can deliver. It should be given the chance to do so once again through this initiative because, with the income that can potentially be generated, Britain will cement its place on the world healthcare map and UK patients will benefit as funds are boosted to enhance healthcare on the domestic front.”

A handful of private and NHS organisations already operate internationally. Moorfields Eye Hospital, Imperial College London and Great Ormond Street hospital are all in the Middle East. In reality, the total income that UK hospitals generate from business overseas is tiny. The UK government says that all profits made by British hospitals abroad would have to go back into the UK, while investment could only come from the revenue they make from private patients. But the UK government cannot dictate how overseas governments deal with tax or revenue. While medical tourists bring income to the UK, overseas ventures are more complex and if they do start to earn money overseas, overseas governments may heavily tax any profit or simply refuse any money to be sent back to the UK.

In 2010, the UK government set up NHS Global to help the health service make the most of the global market for healthcare; it was almost a clone of the new UK Healthcare, cost a significant sum to set up, and produced a total of zero income on zero projects before closing. Only a handful of the UK’s hundreds of hospitals are in a position to start offering services abroad.