British patients can now get treatment in EU
Alan Milburn, British secretary of health, confirmed yesterday that British patients who face unacceptable delays on National Health Service (NHS) waiting lists will be able to seek treatment in other EU countries, according to BBC News. The announcement follows a decision last month by the European Court of Justice which broadens the circumstances under which countries can carry out reciprocal treatment.
The Court of Justice of the European Communities judged 12 July in the case of Mrs Deschamps, a Belgian national residing in Belgium, who requested authorisation from her sickness insurance fund to undergo orthopaedic surgery in France. That authorisation was initially refused. The Court of Justice in Luxembourg ruled that a person covered by social insurance who was incorrectly refused authorisation to receive hospital treatment in a Member State other than the State in which he is insured is none the less entitled to reimbursement of the costs incurred if authorisation for that hospital treatment is subsequently granted, by declaration of a court where appropriate.
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The reimbursement must be at least the same as the amount which would have been granted if the insured person had received hospital treatment in the Member State in which he is insured. (Case C-368/98)
According to the British Department of Health, the European court will accept national definitions of “undue delay” and will not attempt to impose a European standard. At the moment, the maximum acceptable waiting time on the NHS, as declared by the British government, is 18 months. Lawyers at the Department of Health have suggested, therefore, that the court’s ruling will only affect a handful of patients.
Under pressure from Downing Street, Mr Milburn favours a more radical approach and has decided to scrap regulations under the 1997 health act that have stood in the way of treatment abroad. "It is my intention to make clear to health authorities and primary care trusts that they are able to commission services from other European countries as part of their wider efforts to reduce waiting times for NHS treatment,” said Mr Milburn. "I am also setting up a review of the current E112 system to ensure that it operates transparently and objectively."
There are concerns about the new system. Doctors and health managers are worried that some patients, particularly those that are old or frail, would not survive travelling long distances for medical attention. The Conservatives have suggested that this will lead to a two-tier system, with those who can argue for treatment being sent abroad rather than those who need it most.
Mr Milburn said it would take several months for the changes to be put in place, and may require a change in UK law. He stressed that the government’s priority was still to cut waiting lists by investing in the NHS.