Circle Holdings has teamed up with Chinese investors to develop and manage a medical clinic in Shanghai, joining a wave of foreign operators seeking to capitalise on the nation’s ageing population.
The company has formed a joint venture to design, build and operate 10 medical clinics throughout China in the next five years. The first will open on the site of a refurbished hotel in Shanghai in 2017, offering a range of GP, diagnostic, outpatient and treatment services aimed at wealthier patients who can take membership or pay-as-you-go treatment.
Circle’s move underscores the growing appetite by western healthcare companies to expand in China after Beijing removed a cap on ownership of private hospitals in 2012.
Circle is best known in the UK for its takeover of Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Cambridgeshire, the first NHS hospital to be managed by a private company. The trailblazing deal came to an abrupt end last year when Circle pulled out of the hospital just three years into a decade-long contract amid financial troubles and mounting criticism of its performance.
The Shanghai clinic will also give patients access to specialist and secondary care services at the state-run Ruijin Hospital. In return, Circle will provide Ruijin Hospital with access to training and research opportunities in the UK.