UK NHS Expert Delegation Visits The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University (FAHWMU)

On July 20, a four-member expert delegation from the UK National Health Service (NHS) visited The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University (FAHWMU) for exchange and cooperation. The delegation included Dr. Wei Zhang, Consultant Rheumatologist and International Director at St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, CEO of the UK Healthcare Development Association, and General Manager of JW Premier Health; Dr. Jiqing Yang, Consultant Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust; Dr. Lina Chen, Clinical Bioinformatics Lead at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust; and Dr. Wei Yuan, Principal Bioinformatician at the Institute of Cancer Research. Professor Shen Xian , Vice Dean of Wenzhou Medical University and Secretary of the Party Committee of FAHWMU, Zhang Chunwu ,President of FAHWMU, Gang Chen,Vice President of FAHWMU,directors of relevant clinical, technical, and administrative departments, along with other experts attended the exchange session.

At the forum, Prof. SHEN Xian extended a warm welcome to the delegation on behalf of the hospital. He stated that FAHWMU has consistently adhered to an open international cooperation strategy and attaches great importance to international academic exchanges and medical collaboration. As a world-renowned benchmark for public healthcare systems, the UK NHS boasts rich experience in medical quality management, medical talent training and technological innovation. The two sides enjoy a long-standing cooperative partnership. This visit not only acknowledges our previous cooperation, but also creates a vital opportunity to deepen bilateral collaboration in the future.

ZHANG Chunwu held in-depth discussions with the foreign experts on geriatric medicine development and potential cooperation areas. He expressed the hospital’s willingness to keep selecting and dispatching outstanding medical professionals to the UK for further study and exchange, so as to advance broader and deeper bilateral cooperation covering clinical techniques, hospital administration, academic research and talent training.

CHEN Gang delivered a special presentation on the hospital’s development journey, smart healthcare development, clinical application of artificial intelligence, digital hospital construction and the operation of the International Medical Centre.

The director of the International Medical Centre gave a detailed introduction to the centre’s organizational structure, professional teams, hardware facilities and patient consultation procedures. Meanwhile, the director of the Postgraduate Education Department exchanged views on the hospital’s postgraduate training system and relevant cooperation proposals.

UK experts also shared the development status, key specialties, research priorities and international cooperation experience of their respective institutions. Dr. ZHANG Wei introduced the development history and international cooperation practices of St George’s Hospital, while Dr. CHEN Lina and Dr. YUAN Wei separately presented their research fields and representative research achievements.

During the forum discussion, both sides conducted thorough exchanges over multiple topics including international patient recruitment, specialist two-way patient transfer, joint talent training, integrated medical-educational-research innovation, co-development of digital healthcare and alignment of clinical diagnosis and treatment standards. Several cooperation consensuses were reached as follows:

First, expand cross-border medical service channels and build a closed-loop two-way patient referral system with UK local hospitals;

Second, carry out joint teaching programs with Oxford Medical School relying on the Qian Li Academy of Abdominal Surgery;

Third, launch international remote multi-disciplinary team (MDT) collaboration with UK hospitals;

Fourth, promote reciprocal expert exchanges: we will arrange our hospital specialists to conduct academic exchanges and live surgical demonstrations in the UK, and invite UK experts to visit our hospital for on-site observation and academic communication.

During the visit, the four experts toured our simulation consultation rooms, clinical skills training centre and International Medical Centre. They highly praised the hospital’s advanced medical facilities, standardized management system and high-level clinical service capacity.

Established in 1948, the UK National Health Service (NHS) is a universal public healthcare system funded by the British government. Its core tenets are universal population coverage, free treatment upon access and service provision based on clinical needs. The system covers all British citizens and foreign nationals with legal residency in the UK.

Taking this exchange as a new starting point, our hospital will continue dispatching outstanding medical staff to the UK for advanced training. We will steadily expand the depth and scope of bilateral cooperation in clinical technology, hospital management, academic research and talent cultivation, and facilitate steady, long-term exchanges and collaboration between China and the UK in the healthcare sector.