Health Care Across Europe's Borders
December 19th, 2007
The European Commission wants people to have the right to health care across the EU if they are entitled to receive it in their own country.
Here, BBC correspondents provide a snapshot of health care in six European countries, for the citizens who travel abroad and the foreigners who come for treatment.
Those travelling across the EU for treatment have increasingly included Britons stuck on waiting lists for treatment at home.
After the government announced in 2001 that patients facing "undue delay" could head abroad for treatment - a reversal of a longstanding policy limiting overseas treatment to exceptional circumstances - figures show 1,000 people took advantage.
While the agreement of local health insurance UK authorities was required, the trend continued until waiting lists in the UK were brought under control.
Last year, the figure stood at just over 350.
But the judgements of health chiefs working for primary care trusts have not always been met with agreement.
The case of Yvonne Watts - partly responsible for triggering the latest EU plan - rested on the fact that the Bedford pensioner disagreed with her local trust's decision not to fund her treatment.
She ended up going to France for her hip operation, paying out £3,900, and then claiming the money back via a high-profile court case.
But just as patients head overseas for treatment, so patients from overseas head to the NHS.
Last year, there were estimated to be 750 cases where patients from EU countries came to the UK for non-emergency treatment.
These cases, paid for by the individual's home country, have tended to be for specialist care, such as liver transplants.
Critics have attacked both trends. Doctors have expressed concern that paying for treatment abroad sends NHS funding overseas, while other say it is unfair that NHS capacity should be used to treat overseas patients when UK taxpayers face waiting lists.
References :http://news.bbc.co.uk/ |
