UK's NHS shortlists Metropolis for tele-radiology services

Metropolis Health Services (P) Ltd, a chain of diagnostic centres, has been short listed by UK's National Health Services (NHS) to provide tele-radiology services to patients in the UK.

Addressing a press conference, G S K Velu, managing director, Metropolis, said that the company had received communication from NHS in this regard.

Metropolis' mandate would be to provide tele-radiology services that include reading of x-rays, sonography, CT scans, MRIs, PET scans, among others. If the deal materialises, it would be a major fillip to medical process outsourcing services in India, Velu added.

Metropolis would be part of a global consortium, which has been providing tele-radiology and elective surgery services to NHS.

The consortium, which includes organisations from US and UK, won a tender worth Euro 600 million three years ago. Last year too, the consortium received the maximum outsourcing orders from NHS.

The consortium, which didn't include any Indian organisations in the past, is likely to get the same order value from NHS and a portion of the order is expected to be carried out by Metropolis since it would be part of the consortium.

Three or four consortiums are expected to bid for this contract and India's competitors include Thailand, Jordan, South Africa and Australia, among others. NHS is expected to finalise the tender process in March 2006.

Metropolis is also planning to set up centres for tele-radiology services in Mumbai and Chennai. Initially, the tele-radiology services for NHS are expected to be carried out in Delhi and based on the work-load, the services would be expanded to Chennai and Mumbai. The healthcare company has a tele-radiology facility in Delhi, where it has 35 qualified radiologists.

NHS is planning to reduce the backlog of patients awaiting healthcare treatment by subcontracting various services. The shortage of health service providers in the UK is one of the key reasons for outsourcing.

Velu said that the cost and turnaround time were the key factors that made NHS to consider India for outsourcing its tele-radiology services. "The abundant skilled manpower helps us to achieve better turnaround time," he added. A team of executives from NHS had recently visited India and assessed the healthcare systems here.