BMI Healthcare outlines plans to expand international access

BMI Healthcare has stated that it will be continuing to make efforts to treat a larger number of international patients at its hospitals.

The private healthcare provider has been pursuing this goal for the last year-and-a-half, during which period it has seen an 82 percent rise in the number of overseas patients it has treated.

These include insured patients living or travelling in the UK and self-paying patients, while the majority are government-sponsored patients from the Gulf regions of the Middle East.

As a result, BMI Healthcare has had to invest in expanded facilities, including on-site Arabic speaking liaisons, as well as multi-faith prayer rooms, car services and appropriate food and media.

A recent patient from Libya described the BMI The London Independent Hospital as "unlike any hospital I have ever been to", adding: "The level of care and treatment available at the hospital is world-class."

Earlier this year, the group opened a new paediatric department at the BMI The Garden Hospitals, with mayor of Barnet Brian Schama in attendance at the launch.