UK NHS boss: Britain should learn from India’s healthcare system

LONDON: Britain should learn from India’s healthcare system, the chair of NHS England, Dr Penny Dash, has said, pointing out India may soon set the global standard that others want to emulate.“India, oh my goodness... India is just off,” Dash, who has one of the top jobs in global healthcare, told the HealthTech Hour podcast.“I think India is probably going to become the global exemplar in healthcare provision,” she said.“As in many other things, they love their tech and so technology in healthcare in India…yes, there is some cool stuff happening in the US… But India is just off and they are using technology in ways that the US could only dream of, and we can only dream of and, more which is of interest to us, they are doing it in a way which democratises access to healthcare and they feel very strongly about that.”She said founders of tech firms in India and managers and doctors working in healthcare delivery also feel this way.Dash’s praise for India’s ability to deliver high-quality care to vast numbers of patients at scale through technology comes as the NHS attempts to improve productivity and digitise to manage a growing and aging population.Through the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, India has built one of the largest public digital health frameworks in the world, and its eSanjeevani platform has facilitated hundreds of millions of teleconsultations. Meanwhile, AI is being used in India to detect diseases and predict localised malaria and dengue outbreaks.“By using technology you can reduce the unit cost of care,” Dash said. “Technology now was standardised operating processes 20 years ago. In India they were very early in standardised operating processes and now tech has enabled those standardised operating processes and so they are delivering outstandingly good healthcare for dramatically lower unit costs than almost anyone else currently. So, wow is the main thing. That’s going to be very interesting. Watch that space,” Dash said.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.