NEWS & EVENTS

UK Healthcare Pavilion: The London Clinic

Q&A - 7TH APRIL 2021

In the latest of a regular series of Q&As with participants in the UK Healthcare Pavilion, a showcase for the UK’s world-class life sciences and healthcare sector, The London Clinic answers our questions

The UK Healthcare Pavilion has launched, showcasing the UK’s world-class life sciences and healthcare sector. The Howard de Walden Estate is thrilled to partner with this unique new platform, which features some of our renowned hospitals, consultant clinics and specialists here within the world-famous Harley Street Medical Area (HSMA). Over the next few weeks, we’ll be spotlighting some of these organisations as part of our new Q&A series.

This week, we hear from The London Clinic, one of the UK's largest independent hospitals, which provides cutting-edge treatments to patients across a broad range of specialities.

Give us an overview of The London Clinic. What do you specialise in?
As a full-service hospital, The London Clinic offers a comprehensive range of services, including a 13-bed, level 3 intensive care unit and in-house pathology laboratory. We are dedicated to providing the best, personalised healthcare with a breadth of surgical and medical expertise. We employ over 1,300 expert nurses, allied healthcare professionals, doctors and support roles. Our 600 world-class consultants specialise in cancer care, digestive diseases, orthopaedics (including hips, knees, shoulders and fingers with on-site physiotherapy rehabilitation), neurology, cosmetic surgery, liver services, gastroenterology, urology, endoscopy, diabetes, haematology and endocrinology.

Our multi-disciplinary approach means patients are supported throughout their journey, from diagnosis through to treatment and recovery. We also provide support for the next stage, such as with our Moving On programme for oncology patients, which provides workshops and advice on nutrition, relationships and physical and emotional health.

What makes The London Clinic unique?
The London Clinic is the UK’s largest independent charitable hospital. As a charity, our mission is to advance healthcare within our hospital and for the benefit of the healthcare community. Governed by the chair and board of trustees, all surplus profit is re-invested into three main areas: patient care, research and innovation, education and training.

The results of this investment can be clearly seen. The London Clinic was the first independent hospital in the UK to gain the Joint Accreditation Committee ISCT Europe and EBMT (JACIE) accreditation in recognition of our quality standards in stem cell work. It was also the first private hospital in the UK to introduce robotic surgery for prostate cancer and SpyGlass technology for endoscopy and is the only UK hospital supporting the phase three international clinical trial for intra operative radiotherapy on glioblastoma multiforme. We continue to invest significantly in the education of our people, supporting nurses to complete their degrees and become fellows.

Compassion, kindness and care are fundamental to our approach, alongside breakthrough technology, innovative clinical trials and shared medical learnings. The London Clinic’s ethos is to ‘advance healthcare’. This isn’t something we take lightly; it is a full commitment, which all of our staff members live up to every day.

Tell us a bit about your facilities.
Our first facilities were opened in February 1932 by the Duke and Duchess of York, who later became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. Today, our services are provided across seven buildings housing 10 theatres, 234 beds, consulting rooms and a wide range of diagnostic services, including the latest 3T MRI scanner. The Duchess of Devonshire Wing, The London Clinic’s custom-built cancer centre, spans eight floors, offering access to state-of-the-art radiotherapy and chemotherapy suites, along with Europe’s largest private stem cell collection and storage facility.

GI Genius intelligent endoscopy module

GI Genius intelligent endoscopy module

What is your approach to technology?
As a charity, we continually reinvest in technology to provide the best patient experience and are currently in the process of adopting all sorts of technologies. One that I think will prove particularly exciting for us over the next five years is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in endoscopy. Our aim is to integrate AI into decision-making to enable early diagnosis and improve outcomes.

The London Clinic was the first hospital in the UK to introduce a system called GI Genius, which is made by a company called Medtronic. Essentially, this technology supplements the endoscopic images we get when patients undergo colonoscopy and allows us to pick up polyps. If we can identify these polyps at an early stage and remove them at the time of the colonoscopy, we can reduce the incidence of developing colorectal cancer and improve patient outcomes.

What are the benefits of being located in the Harley Street Medical Area?
We benefit from the central location and historical weight of the best medical district in the UK. We are fortunate to occupy beautiful buildings both old and new and to have Regent’s Park on our doorstep. We can collaborate with medical partners throughout the district and welcome patients from across the globe, who feel assured they are in an area of the most pioneering and safe healthcare.

When you are unwell, it is so important to have medical experts you can go to – and trust. The Harley Street Medical Area represents more than one hospital or institution; it’s a collaboration of healthcare professionals dedicated to ensuring the best possible outcome for whoever walks in through those doors. This area is steeped in medical history and throughout the ages we have built upon our shared learnings and medical expertise. The HSMA is a place of trust and resolution and we will continue to work together with our colleagues to provide the best possible outcomes for our patients.

In this short video, Dr Rehan Haidry, a consultant gastroenterologist and interventional endoscopist at The London Clinic, discusses the future of healthcare and the ways in which innovations in endoscopy will continue to improve outcomes for patients in the next 10 years: