4 GHP Private Healthcare Awards 2023 Healthcare is becoming ever-more client centric, moulding itself to the needs of the patient, whatever they may be. As a bestin-class medical concierge service, HCA Healthcare UK (HCA UK) is accelerating this trend, while paving the way for others to follow. On the back of its well-deserved win, we spoke with HCA Healthcare UK CEO John Reay to find out more about the business and its operations. Feb23275 Healthcare Concierge Service of the Year - Greater London To really understand HCA UK, you have to know what drives it and how it has changed over time. The HCA UK Medical Concierge Service was born from the efforts of Annabelle Neame, a former staff nurse who started her own concierge service. “This service, which is transforming the healthcare experience for many people, is the brainchild of Annabelle Neame. After several years running her own business, HCA UK asked Annabelle to evaluate their international pathways and identify the problems people had accessing healthcare.” “Following her research, Annabelle started HCA UK’s Medical Concierge Service. She had the backing of senior executives and handpicked one of the best teams in the business. Their pilot study, completed with an embassy and an international medical aid organisation, was hugely successful, and thus the service was born,” John Reay begins by explaining, addressing the pillars on which The HCA UK Medical Concierge Service was developed. Ultimately, there can be no mistaking the impetus behind the company and its concierge service – patient-centricity. From the outset, John Reay made HCA UK’s core mission and goal obvious – to make sure they always puts the patient first. “At HCA UK’s Medical Concierge Centre, we put the patient at the centre of everything we do. That’s been our core value since day one. It hasn’t changed, and nor will it, because we exist to make sure patients get the best medical care when they need it most. A patient’s safety, wellbeing and treatment is our top priority.” Indeed, despite the company’s name, HCA UK operates far outside the UK’s borders to facilitate medical needs for patients. “We work with patients all over the world. Whether you’re here in the UK and want a transfer to an HCA UK hospital, or you’re in an ICU in a hospital in Kenya and need to get to an ICU here in London, we will facilitate that journey for you. We work with insurers, corporations, embassies, and people who fund their treatment themselves – no matter how you come to us, from the first touchpoint, you are our first priority.” “It’s the best team I’ve worked with and the best job I’ve ever had.” - Daniel Brice “If every member of the team can say that I’ll feel like I’ve done my job.” – Annabelle Neame While many industries are pivoting to include more client-centric processes, the healthcare industry – and HCA UK perhaps chief among them – has become a paragon of the greater paradigm shift. The company and service has made a significant mark for offering clients the best possible healthcare and, more importantly, the best possible chances of survival when its clients need it most. One sobering example of this occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, as John explains. “During the pandemic, there were red list countries you couldn’t fly to or from if you wanted to land in London. We had a call about a very unwell patient from a rhino farm in Kenya, which was a complex medical case that was difficult to transfer because of the Covid-19 travel restrictions. The air ambulance had refuelled at some point in a country from the red list, so Stanstead wouldn’t accept the patient even as the air ambulance circled Stanstead airport. The pilot called one of our clinical nurse specialists, who got special permission for that plane to land at Stanstead. It’s no understatement to say our nurse gave the patient on board their best chance for survival that day. When no one else could’ve landed that plane at Stanstead, we did.” “The HCA UK Medical Concierge Service is one point of contact, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It is the only concierge service to be registered with the CQC, and has, to date, won several awards for its medical care and patient service.” But, let’s now look at the future, and how HCA UK is looking to capitalise on its significant success moving forwards. “We have so much in development. We’re all very excited about the corporate memberships we’ll be offering to clients very soon, so their employees will be able to access care from anywhere in the world. To date, we’ve coordinated transfers from over 60 countries, which is a huge achievement. We’re also continually working to build new relationships with embassies we haven’t worked with before. We’re so excited for 2023. It’s going to be all about growth. We’re a start-up within a much larger organisation, so we’re entering our scale-up phase,” John concludes. Company: HCA Healthcare UK Website: https://www.hcahealthcare.co.uk Telephone: 020 7079 4344
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