Health Education England (HEE) is set to become involved in the training of Chinese GPs, it has announced.
HEE said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Peking University and the University of Birmingham for future collaboration, as China hopes to significantly expand the number of GPs it trains.
The agreement will see trainers in England helping by ‘training the trainers’ of Chinese GPs, but HEE chief executive, Professor Ian Cumming, said the knowledge they would gain from the cooperation would also benefit UK patients.
He said: ‘HEE is recognised in China for delivering excellence in GP training and development. We have the chance to use our expertise to help further develop a Chinese primary care system but there will be benefits for patients here as well, as this is a real chance for us to learn, particularly in terms of community-based practices.
‘The relationship is very much two-way and I’m convinced that our countries have a lot that they can learn from each other.’
The news comes after the Government reached a healthcare-focused trade deal with China in December last year, which included cutting red tape for UK-based healthcare companies to invest in areas including primary care.
