King’s College Hospital (KCH), London, has established overseas partnerships in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. This makes it one of the largest and most well-established teaching hospitals in the UK. It has partnered with private investors to develop new healthcare facilities in these regions. Founded in 1840, King’s College Hospital London is a 950-bed tertiary hospital. It boasts advanced capabilities, including several clinical centers of excellence that are among the best in the world.
Thanks to KCH’s overseas partnerships, two state-of-the-art multispecialty hospitals in Dubai and Jeddah offer direct access to the world’s best healthcare providers. These hospitals and satellite outpatient clinics in Dubai align with King’s College Hospital London’s unique model of care. This reduces the need for patients in the region to travel abroad for treatment.
Read on to find out more about the history and benefits of these partnerships. They are beneficial for both the healthcare sector in the Gulf region and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in the UK.
How did KCH’s overseas partnerships in the Gulf begin?
There have been strong ties between King’s College Hospital London and the UAE since 1979. His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Founding Father and First President of the UAE, gave a donation to help establish the King’s Liver Research Centre. It is now among the top three liver specialist centers in the world.
Over the years, thousands of patients from the UAE have received treatment at King’s College Hospital London through the International and Private Patients Service. The international patients facility is separate from National Health Service provision, but any profits are invested into improving service provision for all patients at King’s College Hospital London.
The decision was made to bring King’s College Hospital’s world-class quality to the UAE for the benefit of both citizens and residents. This minimizes the necessity for Emirati patients to travel to the UK for treatment. In 2016, King’s College Hospital entered the United Arab Emirates through a joint venture with Al Tayer Group, Dubai Investments, and UK-headquartered Ashmore Group. In 2019, King’s College Hospital Dubai, a 100-bed multi-specialty tertiary hospital, was inaugurated.
Similarly, there has been a history of collaboration between King’s College Hospital and the Saudi authorities. In 2011, King’s College Hospital signed a collaboration agreement with King Fahd Medical City in Riyadh to provide education and training for nurses. Later, an agreement was reached to establish King’s College Hospital Jeddah, a 150-bed multi-specialty hospital with four centers of excellence. It officially opened in February 2025.
How does King’s College Hospital’s partnership model work?
King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is a publicly owned and funded organization, part of the UK’s National Health Service, and therefore cannot invest capital. King’s Commercial, a wholly owned subsidiary of King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, partners with private investors to develop new healthcare facilities overseas. In this model, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust does not operate any overseas facilities. However, it is able to support the local operator by sharing knowledge, skills, and expertise. Any profits generated from this work are reinvested back into the trust’s NHS for the benefit of UK patients.
King’s College medical facilities in the UAE and Saudi Arabia have direct links to King’s College Hospital in London. They can access the following services:
- Clinical advisory and guidance support
- Multi-disciplinary teams and consultations with UK-based specialists
- Quality assurance and ethical governance
- Aligning clinical pathways, policies, and processes to NHS standards
- Ongoing integration and service improvement programmes
- Access to a suite of education and training programmes
- Recruitment support
- Procurement service support for major medical equipment or ongoing consumables
- Licensed use of the King’s College Hospital brand, where appropriate
The synergy between King’s College Hospital London and overseas facilities ensures that the highest standards of evidence-based clinical care are maintained. This support has enabled King’s College Hospitals in Dubai and Jeddah to establish Specialist Centers of Excellence. A large proportion of doctors and senior nursing staff at hospitals in the KCH network have been trained in the UK.
King’s College Hospital Dubai
King’s College Hospital (KCH) Dubai, located in the prestigious Dubai Hills estate, is a JCI-accredited, state-of-the-art 100-bed facility offering all major specialties. The hospital is currently undergoing an expansion that will double its bed capacity to 200. KCH Dubai also has two multi-specialty satellite outpatient centers in the prime locations of Jumeirah and Marina. Additionally, there is King’s Institute of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Obesity (KIDEO), and a physiotherapy clinic in Park Heights. Also, there is an aesthetics clinic in Dubai Marina.
The majority of doctors at KCH Dubai have been educated and trained in Britain. They have many years of experience working in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). Through constant contact with UK colleagues, doctors work closely as part of specialist teams to achieve the highest standards of care.
The King’s Liver Centre at KCH Dubai is a center of excellence for complex liver diseases, liver transplantation, and pancreatobiliary disorders. It is the first liver transplant center in Dubai and now offers both pediatric and adult liver transplants.
Other specialist units and centers of excellence at KCH Dubai include:
- Paediatrics
- Cardiology
- Orthopaedics
- Paediatric Orthopaedics
- Obstetrics and gynaecology
- Fetal Medicine/High Risk Pregnancies
- Metabolic diseases, including diabetes
- Advanced Parkinson’s Research Centre of Excellence
- Weight Loss and Bariatric Programme
- Fatty Liver Disease Programme
- State-of-the-art Cath Lab
King’s College Hospital Jeddah
King’s College Hospital Jeddah is a new, 150-bed, state-of-the-art multi-specialty hospital designed to address the critical care requirements of citizens and residents of Saudi Arabia. It does so to world-class standards through King’s College Hospital London’s model of care. The hospital is located alongside King Abdulaziz Road, between the airport and the city center. There are plans to expand KCH Jeddah to reach a 250-bed capacity in the future.
King’s College Hospital Jeddah currently has four centers of excellence for:
- Women’s Health, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and IVF
- Orthopaedics
- Cardiovascular Diseases
- Metabolic Diseases & Bariatric Surgery
Other medical and surgical subspecialties at KCH Jeddah include
- Emergency Medicine
- Critical Care
- Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
- Stem Cell Centre
- Medical Oncology
- Neurological Sciences
- Men’s Health
- Respiratory Medicine
- Dialysis
- Rehabilitation Centre
World-Class Healthcare in the Gulf Region
Through international partnerships, King’s College Hospital ensures high-quality, patient-centered care, using the latest techniques and evidence-based procedures. This is for the benefit of patients living in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, as well as those traveling for treatment. Partnerships also bring benefits for medical education and training, as well as collaboration between specialist doctors.
This is just one part of the story of how countries in the Gulf region are enhancing healthcare services. They do so by investing in state-of-the-art medical facilities, recruiting highly qualified healthcare professionals, and implementing advanced technologies to improve patient care.
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