Islamic State NHS-style hospital video posted

Islamic State appears to have released a promotional video for its own health service featuring NHS-style branding and an Australian doctor.

The video has not been verified but was being circulated by IS-affiliated social media accounts and bears all the hallmarks of previous IS productions.

Using an NHS-style logo, it introduces the "ISHS" - or IS Health Service.

It appears to have been filmed in Raqqa General Hospital in the Syrian IS stronghold of Raqqa.

The first doctor in the video talks about the establishment of a health ministry that regulates medical facilities across IS territory, including the Raqqa hospital, which he says has been refurbished.

A second doctor introduces the intensive care unit, which he says treats victims of military conflict and car accidents. A third speaks about the X-ray department, which includes a women-only unit.

The Australian doctor, who calls himself Abu Yusuf, says he travelled from his home country to join IS and is using his medical skills "as part of my jihad for Islam".

He is shown treating newborn babies in incubators, in a section of the video set in the hospital's apparently well-equipped paediatric ward.

Speaking directly to camera, he says he wished he had joined IS sooner. He calls on doctors and other medical professionals in the West to join the group.

The video also includes commentary on the hospital's physiotherapy and dialysis services.

Amidst the growing tide of IS propaganda videos, this is one of the more striking. The production values are - as we have now come to expect - high-end and glossy. The opening titles look more like a TV drama about life in a hospital than a documentary from a war zone.

But while some IS videos - notably those featuring the beheading of hostages - are aimed at spreading terror, this one is clearly designed to encourage recruitment. The idea is to present IS as something akin to a normal state, with a health service like that of Britain's NHS - even with a similar logo.

The film also carefully focuses on some of the technology available in the hospital - dialysis, X-ray and ultrasound machines.

The ability of IS to upload such videos remains a real source of concern to western governments who fear that many are still trying to go out to IS territory in Syria or Iraq - even if some are stopped.