UK healthcare group to invest in city

The UK-based company, which incepted the idea a year and a half ago, is targeting the premium segment and believes Chennai is a high potential market for such healthcare services. The company will offer amenities such as the patient on call, which involves a patient getting picked up from home and getting dropped at the clinic. As part of the diagnostic processes, the exact time required for diagnosis is also communicated to the patient along with documentation of one’s food choice. Based on the reports of the patient, a telemedicine session is held, where doctors in the UK are consulted with the reports are shared with them online, sources said. 

The UK doctors then give their advice on the best way forward. It is up to the patient then, if he or she wants to get his treatment done in the UK, or opt for an alternative treatment in another hospital here. Sources said the company has invested an amount between 15 to 16 million pounds for the Chennai facility. The property in Nungambakkam, is slated to have 11 floors and a physio-care unit, operated by a UK based company. The soft launch is expected to happen in January 2017 and the main launch is tentatively said to be in March or April next year. Depending on how the Chennai facility picks up, the company is keen on having four or five more units in South India alone (preferably two more in Tamil Nadu itself) with possibilities to branch out in AP or Karnataka. Their seven-year vision is to have around 4-5 properties in South India. The pricing model is akin to premium services offered by leading healthcare diagnostic groups.