Indian, British firms explore synergy in healthcare

Monday, 10 February 2003, 20:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: Indian and British healthcare majors are attempting synergy in their operations in a move that could provide a quantum leap to trade ties between the two nations. Top players from the British healthcare industry are here to promote their speciality products and services while Indian speciality hospitals are eyeing new alliances to lure expatriates and British nationals to travel here for treatment. Marking the decade old Indo-British Partnership, the delegation is "looking at possible business links with Indian healthcare sector particularly in the area of technology development, hospital management, training, outsourcing products and promoting exports of diagnostic tools," said David Hawkins of Trade Partners U.K. Since 1993, the Indo-British Partnership group has helped boost bilateral trade 68 percent to over five billion pounds and helped promote British investment in India to over three billion pounds. Hawkins estimated that in a few years, India would need three times the number of trained personnel including doctors and nurses to take care of increasing needs and keep pace with the new speciality hospitals coming up in the country. The delegation, which is on a week long visit to India includes representatives from six leading British healthcare companies including Cardionetics Ltd, Omega Diagnostics Ltd, LBBC Ltd, Biotec Laboratories, TeleMedic Systems and Nuffield Healthcare International, which operates the largest chain of private hospitals in Britain. "We are in early stages of talking with hospital groups for managing a chain of small and medium hospitals in India. As the operator of the largest hospital chain in Britain, we can offer skills that could add value to facilities here," Howard Lyons, managing director of Nuffield Healthcare International, told IANS on the sidelines of a business meet here Monday. Reciprocating their interest are groups like Fortis Healthcare of the Ranbaxy Group, which is planning a chain of super speciality hospitals and spoke hospitals that would be linked to hub hospitals through the Internet. "We are seeking to provide the Indian perspective and impress the advantage of Indian health facilities to lead to a point which could be a start of more traffic from Britain to India for healthcare," said Fortis Healthcare chairman Harpal Singh. Singh will be leading a delegation of Indian healthcare companies to Britain around June to showcase Indian expertise and world-class facilities for major surgeries and hospital care at about one-tenth of the cost abroad. While there is considerable interest among Indian companies to study some of the new technological marvels the British companies have offer in cardiology and other diagnostics tools, high up on the list are acquiring management skills and forging tie-ups to attract patients from Britain. "The key to Indian hospitals being able to attract more traffic from overseas lies in improving the infrastructure through private-public partnerships, bringing in more professionalism in management and ensuring low cost and high quality facilities," said Anil K. Maini, head of marketing at Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre. Through tie-ups with British based BUPA Insurance, Escorts has been seeing increasing traffic from overseas for its speciality services particularly by Indian expatriates. BUPA has 30,000 members in and around the SAARC region. "We are already in talks with other overseas insurance majors for alliances that could see an increase in patient traffic from overseas," said Maini. With India witnessing a trend of corporate structuring of hospital management, there is likely to be more collaboration with countries like Britain, said industry officials. "While we have not as yet crystallised any collaborations with the British, we are looking at increasing overseas patient traffic to avail of our facilities here," said Anupam Sibal, medical advisor with Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals here.
Source: IANS