NHS England chair Dr Penny Dash says Britain should learn from India’s healthcare system

Britain should learn from India’s healthcare system, with NHS England chair Dr Penny Dash saying India could soon become a global model for healthcare delivery through technology.

Dash made the remarks while speaking to the HealthTech Hour podcast, where she highlighted India’s use of technology to expand healthcare access and reduce the cost of care.

India could become global healthcare model

"India, oh my goodness... India is just off," Dash told the podcast.


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“I think India is probably going to become the global exemplar in healthcare provision," she said.

Dash praised India’s approach to using technology in healthcare and said the country was using it to widen access in ways that other countries could learn from.

"As in many other things, they love their tech and 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."

India’s digital healthcare infrastructure

India has developed a large public digital health framework through the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission.

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The country’s eSanjeevani platform has facilitated hundreds of millions of teleconsultations. Artificial intelligence is also being used in India for disease detection and to predict localised outbreaks of diseases including malaria and dengue.

Dash said the wider use of technology could help healthcare providers lower the cost of delivering care.

Technology can reduce healthcare costs

"By using technology you can reduce the unit cost of care," Dash said.

She said India had adopted standardised operating processes early and was now using technology to strengthen those processes and deliver healthcare at lower costs.

"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.

NHS looks to improve healthcare productivity

Dash’s comments come as the UK’s National Health Service works to improve productivity and expand the use of digital technology while dealing with healthcare demand from a growing and ageing population.

Her comments put India’s digital healthcare expansion in focus as countries look at technology to improve access, scale healthcare delivery and control costs.

(With inputs from TOI)