King’s College London, together with Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, the Hinduja Foundation UK and P.D. Hinduja Hospital & Medical Research Centre, will establish a Health Partners Academy in Maharashtra.

It will deliver King’s and Guy’s and St Thomas’ training in clinical and non-clinical short courses, executive education to health professionals in both India and the UK and build research capacity.

The Hinduja Foundation UK has also announced a philanthropic gift to enable health engineering research and clinical innovation through PhD and Masters scholarships for students from India.

According to King’s College London vice-chancellor & president, Shitij Kapur, the initiative will support the next generation of healthcare professionals and biomedical technical talent in India and the UK.

“[They] will develop the healthcare technologies of the future; in turn, helping solve some of the most pressing global healthcare challenges we face,” he said.

The UK’s deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, who welcomed the partnership during a visit to the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering, said it “will only strengthen the UK’s close links to India”.

“[This collaboration will] create greater research capacity in healthcare engineering, clinical innovation and advanced training,” he said.

The UK government has been encouraging institutions to foster new international partnerships, especially around reciprocal transnational education opportunities.

“[The Hinduja – King’s Health Partners Academy] will play a vital role in bringing far reaching impact and health improvement,” Sir Steve Smith, the UK government’s International Education Champion, said.

“The announcement also demonstrates the deepening collaboration between the UK and India in the education sector, where we see huge growth potential in the coming years.

“The UK is a world leader in TNE and I am sure this ambitious partnership is one of many that will follow in the increasing internationalisation of higher education.”

KCL is one of many institutions that already has a breadth of international partnerships, including with partner Technische Universität Dresden in Germany.

“We see this as part of a long-term partnership to bring real positive healthcare and research outcomes”

“We are delighted the Hinduja Foundation and the P.D. Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai are reaching a ground breaking agreement and collaboration in education and healthcare with King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals,” added G.P. Hinduja, Chairman of the Hinduja Group and Foundation

“We see this as part of a long-term partnership to bring real positive healthcare and research outcomes to benefit India and the UK.”

Speaking on behalf of the government of Maharashtra, cabinet minister for Medical Education, Hasan Mushrif, agreed that the health partner’s academy will improve healthcare outcomes in the world’s most populous country, as well as the UK.

“King’s College is a leading research and teaching institution of global repute [and] I am certain that this partnership will involve the application of new healthcare technologies to address the fast-emerging needs of healthcare of India.

“I congratulate the Hinduja Group who has taken this pioneering initiative to bring to Maharashtra a collaboration with a world class healthcare institution like King’s College to support the healthcare needs of India.”