With medical tourism, long waiting lists are pushing Britons to seek treatment abroad

The Telegraph newspaper said that British medical tourism in Europe has grown in light of the spread of patient lists within the British Health Service “NHS” due to an increase in strikes by nurses and doctors due to a wage crisis. Times have prompted patients to seek medical treatment abroad.

This led to the flourishing of British medical tourism in Europe, with British patients traveling abroad to seek immediate treatment, particularly orthopedic, cardiac and eye diseases.

Another type of medical tourism

Many medical centers have recently opened in new locations in London with new advertisements and promotions to attract new customers in the United Kingdom, and the majority of medical tourism provided from the United Kingdom is dentistry and cosmetics. .

Due to long NHS waiting lists, the number of people traveling for orthopedic treatment is increasing, says Keith Pollard of healthcare business Laing Buson.

France Surgery, which organizes medical travel across France, has seen an increase in British patients seeking treatment for heart conditions – mainly coronary angioplasty – and orthopedic surgery.

Julia Aposto of France Surgery says they are in high demand because of the coronavirus and recently received two or three inquiries a day from Brits seeking medical treatment in France, which they received a few years ago. An inquiry every couple of days that rarely turns into an actual booking, but now everyone is booking.

The volume of inquiries from British patients is now the same as it was before Brexit, although patients now have to pay for surgeries themselves.

7.2 million people are on waiting lists for consultant-led treatments

When Britain was part of the European Union, British patients could receive compensation from the NHS for medical treatment abroad. Health insurers also refused to pay for treatment in other countries.
In September 2022, the number of patients on the waiting list for consultant-led treatments known as ‘elective care’ in England reached 7.2 million. This is the highest number since at least 2007.
The success of elective surgery in the UK is unique in its scale, and in 2020 the UK saw the biggest decline in hip and knee replacements of any country in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) with these surgeries. 68% percent and 46 percent year-on-year respectively.