Reports and Policy Positions
THET writes reports, discussion papers and position papers to influence policy makers internationally.
Voices of the Experts in Our Midst
Storytelling is at the heart of all this work, with a focus on platforming diaspora perspectives from across the NHS. Central to this initiative was THET’s Diaspora Staff and Global Health survey, which received 685 responses. Designed to capture the knowledge of overseas health systems and understand how this knowledge is being applied to health at home in the UK, and at home in countries of heritage, THET’s survey data has been coupled with comprehensive focus groups and interviews which are a centrepiece of the “Voices of the Experts in Our Midst” report, launching December 2023 in England and January 2024 in Wales.
Click here to read the England ‘Voices of the Experts In Our Midst’ report.
Click here to read the Welsh ‘Voices of the Experts In Our Midst’ report (English language).
Click here to read the Welsh ‘Voices of the Experts In Our Midst’ report.
Health Worker Wellbeing and Global Engagement
This report sets out the findings of an inquiry process which aimed to compile existing evidence for and to seek new information on the connection between global health engagement and wellbeing. We found an enormous appetite to discuss these issues. We intentionally looked at this from a UK health worker perspective, but the conversation grew to involve LMIC experiences and approaches, bringing the opportunity for mutual benefit through a partnership focus on wellbeing.
Experts in Our Midst: Recognising the contribution NHS diaspora staff make to global health
Our latest pivotal report explores the contribution NHS diaspora staff make to global health. Composing 15% of the NHS’ workforce, their expertise, knowledge and leadership is often overlooked and as a result the NHS risks losing its global reputation at a crucial time.
Experts in Our Midst explores the broader current context and promotes the marginalised voices of diaspora NHS staff within the wider, often hostile, environment. We know that diaspora NHS staff have always played a valuable role in Health Partnerships. What we did not know was the scale of their engagement, the challenges faced, nor how best to amplify their voices to demonstrate the impact diaspora can have on global health projects.
To read the full report, please click here.
To read our fact sheet which sets out key findings and recommendations, please click here.
Wales’s Health Partnerships with Africa: Maximising potential for mutual benefit
Wales has a long history of positive engagement with low- and middle-income countries, and we are now at a moment of considerable opportunity. As we rebuild after a pandemic that has exposed global inequities and interconnections, the Welsh Government has commissioned this report, which considers activity between Wales and sub-Saharan Africa. It has a focus on Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding opportunities and an eye to maximising the benefits of global engagement to NHS Wales.
Available in Welsh and English.
International Health Activity in Wales | Rapid Review
This review documents the considerable assets Wales has at its disposal in the international health space, looking across all sectors. Wales is home to world-leading universities, a unified health and care system, a thriving life sciences commercial sector and energetic, global non-profit activity, all supported by outward and forward-looking national policies. The review considers the ways in which Wales can increase the value of its engagement in international health, to benefit the country commercially and reputationally.
In 2021, THET worked in partnership with the African Centre for Global Health and Social Transformation (ACHEST) to run three symposia examining the role of the UK in relation to the international recruitment of health workers from Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). This report outlines the key findings and next steps.
From Competition to Collaboration
From Competition to Collaboration explores the interactions between the UK’s NHS and Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) through the lens of an increasingly mobile health workforce. In particular, the report examines how the UK’s ambitions to increase international recruitment, expressed most recently in the Interim NHS People Plan, sit alongside long-standing commitments to support the development of health services in LMICs. The report shares the learning THET has gathered through its work in Health Partnerships, to help chart an ethical way forward for policy makers in the UK and overseas.
The Transition from Aid
In the paper we make the case that for aid to alleviate extreme poverty in the poorest countries, but also to create commercial opportunities in better off countries, it is important to recognise the role of UK engagement with middle-income countries (MICs). In particular, we argue that the UK’s healthcare sector should be seen as a vital component of this revised approach to aid as the economies of MICs continue to grow. The NHS is widely regarded as the UK’s most treasured institution, and yet its potential as a driver of development and commercial exchange between the UK and other countries is under developed.
This paper is primarily intended to stimulate discussion but we also make a number of specific recommendations which we believe have the power to maximise soft power gains, establish the UK as a leader in global workforce development and increase the commercial success of the NHS and wider UK healthcare ecosystem internationally.
Innovation: How The NHS Can Learn More From Africa And Asia
In November 2019, THET convened an Innovation Round Table chaired by Lord Nigel Crisp which brought together members of THET’s Innovation Steering Group and experts from across HEE, the NHS, Whitehall, the media and academia to review the outcomes of THET’s 2019 innovation programme.
Click here to read the full Round Table Report to find out more about how the NHS can learn more from Africa and Asia.
In Our Mutual Interest
Our policy paper In Our Mutual Interest shares the learning acquired by THET over many years working at the heart of the health partnership movement. Examining the opportunities and challenges associated with this approach, this report points to the huge benefit that can be derived by both the UK and our partners and governments overseas when the right balance is struck between our own organisational and national interest, and the interest of people living in some of the world’s poorest countries.
To read the report please click here.
