The private South African company awarded the contract to run the first two NHS fast-track surgery centres has pledged to provide a high-class service and not to poach NHS staff. Health commentators had expressed fears over Netcare's involvement in providing NHS services.
UK doctors had been concerned that the centres will focus on the simpler, cheaper, operations, leaving the NHS to deal with the more complex and expensive procedures.
The British Medical Association has also warned there could be a loss of training opportunities for trainee surgeons.
Benefits
Netcare is one of the largest private healthcare groups in South Africa.
It is to operate two mobile eye surgery centres, in the north and south of England, which will perform 41,600 cataract operations over the next five years. It has also been awarded the contract to run a surgical centre at the Trafford General Hospital in Manchester where it will carry out 45,000 orthopaedic, ear, nose and throat and general surgical operations over the next five years.
Dr Richard Friedland, chief executive of Netcare Healthcare UK, told BBC News Online the company admired the standards and policies of the NHS - and wanted to be involved.
But he said Netcare, and the South African health service, would also benefit.
"We tend to lose a lot of skilled staff to overseas locum agencies.
"People are then offered positions, and they then emigrate.
"So our human resources strategy, aimed at retaining staff, is to offer them work on a short-term basis in the UK."
And he said the company was prevented from "poaching" staff from the health service.
"We are not allowed to employ NHS staff. It is in our contract."
'No merit'
He also countered criticism that the company was taking the "easy" cataract operations out of NHS hospitals.
"We will be carrying out less than 5% of the cataract operations carried out nationally.
"If we were taking on 30 or 40% of cataract operations, there might be some merit in that argument.
"But already, many NHS consultants do the operations on NHS patients in the private sector."
He said junior surgeons would still carry out a broad range of eye operations while they were training - and the company would welcome trainees into its centres.
'Regrettable'
Netcare has already carried out four projects for the NHS in the UK, bringing over doctors from South Africa to carry out eye, orthopaedic and ear, nose and throat operations.
But former Liberal Democrat health spokesman Dr Evan Harris, raised concerns after three out of 900 patients treated in Cumbria developed a serious and rare complication eye condition called endophthalmitis after surgery.
The condition, called usually occurs in around one in 1,000 patients.
Dr Friedland said: "There were three cases of infection, and that is regrettable. There are no excuses."
But he said the situation had been investigated, and patients could be reassured the work carried out by the mobile centres would be strictly monitored.
"I understand there will be concerns about anyone else coming into a country's own healthcare system.
"But I think these concerns can be allayed.
"We will have to abide by the rules and regulations, as would any other healthcare provider.
"We will be being scrutinised and will be accountable.
"That should give the public the reassurance that all our outcomes and results will be examined."
He said working with companies such as Netcare to provide NHS care was not just a "quick fix".
"This is one of many solutions being looked at by the Department of Health."
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I understand there will be concerns about anyone else coming into a country's own healthcare system 
