With waiting lists for surgery reaching new highs, we investigate the lengths patients are going to in order to receive treatment
WORDS: ANDY BUCKWELL AND CHARLOTTE OWEN ©THE SUN/NEWS LICENSING. PHOTOS: GETTY, LOUIS WOOD AND JOHN MCLELLAN/THE SUN/NEWS LICENSING
We’ve all experienced it. Having to wait weeks for an appointment with our GP, or waiting even longer to see a dentist. But for many, it is the wait times for surgery that are the most dire.
The number of desperate patients forced to ditch the NHS and pay for medical treatment abroad has risen by a third since lockdown. Leading clinics across Europe are now focusing on attracting a new wave of NHS exiles as demand rockets among British patients for hip and knee replacements, cataract surgery and cardiology treatments.
Almost 350,000 UK residents went abroad for medical treatment in 2022, compared with 248,000 in 2019 and 120,000 in 2015. At home, the number waiting more than a year for elective (non-urgent) surgery has risen from 1,000 in 2019 to 400,000 in 2022. A further 1.5 million people were waiting for diagnostic tests.
Keith Pollard, editor of the International Medical Travel Journal, said clinics in Lithuania, Poland, Croatia and France were seeing a huge upturn in Britons seeking elective surgery. He said, ‘Three or four years ago very few Brits would go abroad for elective or NHS-type surgery. But what we are seeing over the past 12 to 18 months is down to NHS waiting lists. People are not prepared to wait if they are in significant pain or facing mobility issues.’
But Professor Fiona Myint of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, advised caution. She said, ‘A lot of hospitals abroad will offer an excellent level of care. However, this is not always the case. While surgery abroad might be a cheaper option, I would urge patients to consider any cost savings against the possible risks of complications.’
Here, we look at the price of treatments in other countries and how to save the NHS.
‘UNFAIR AND WRONG’
Rebecca McPhie, 52, lives in Suffolk, with her husband Jason, 54, and two sons.
I was failed by the NHS at the time I needed it most. I was an active person who loved paddleboarding, but the pain came on quickly and escalated until I couldn’t walk. In July last year, I was diagnosed with arthritis of the hip. I was told it was at least a year’s wait for surgery.
Th
