David Charter, Europe Correspondent of The Times
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December 19, 2007
Row delays plans for free EU healthcare market
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If you've paid your national insurance contributions then there is no good reason that I can see that you shouldn't be able to top up your care, either in the UK or abroad.
To ignore that fact flies in the face of the reality that some people have more money than others. We don't live in a perfect world.
There are some important home truths about this whole debate:
Top ups are another source of much needed additional revenue for the trusts - that's good as it reduces the tax burden on the rest of us.
It does not mean that those without funding won't great treated.
Healthcare provision, like it or not, is about cost not people. We either pay for it, or it doesn't happen. There IS a line in the sand where a treatment, no matter how good it is, is not affordable for all because our society can't afford it. Get used to it - we will all die eventually.
If the wealthy travel abroard to get this care they should be able to *partially* bill the NHS. It's not a holiday.
Steve, Cheltenham,
Dawn Primarolo and all other MPs , Ministers and their families are of course not expected to wait for treatment on the NHS, They get fast tracked and I doubt if they have trouble getting the drugs that N.I.C.E. ( a misnomer if ever there was one) have denied the rest of the country. Its all very well talking about the principles of the NHS but when it comes down to it we are being short changed, whilst our lords and masters yet again rush to the front of the queue.
FEF, Cheltenham, UK
I live in France (one of the most bureaucratic nations) yet the standard of health care is excellent - why? because the money paid into the health budget is spent on patient care and hospital facilities. In UK the money is paid to fat cat administrators or even worse highly overpaid consultants (both medical and business) This is why people go abroad for care. This stupid woman Health Minister states that "we cannot and will not allow that a few wealthy patieints choose to go elsewhere and give NHS the bill" She would rather they went private in the UK so the UK private health sector made all the profit. The private cost of a replacement hip operation in France is 50% of one in UK and the waiting time is only a few weeks compared to several months. I cannot believe that there are more people in UK with hip problems than anywhere else? Perhaps the UK should stop catering for 'holiday patients' who visit family members in the UK for the express purpose of using the NHS.
George, Glasgow, UK
Perhaps if the NHS offered proper healthcare to UK patients this would not be an issue at all.
James, Madrid, Spain
"Dawn Primarolo, the Health Minister, said that the Government would support proposals that did not undermine the principles of the NHS. She added: "What we cannot allow and will not allow is that a few very wealthy patients choose to go elsewhere and then give the NHS the bill." That attitude and comment, from Dawn Primarolo, speaks volumes and is a clear indication of the contempt with which politicians treat the people of this country whilst failing to provide the first-class health service that the tax-payers of this country pay for.
Kenneth Armitage, Suffolk, England
fix the NHS and no body will need to go abroad
saud, riyadh,
UK healthcare is more expensive and far less efficient than most European countries. Look at the recent report on cancer treatments.
Drugs in this country are far more expensive than in Europe.
Allowing people to go abroad will not only save money this way but also allow far earlier treatment which means the patients will be far less ill and much easier to treat.
It will save the NHS money, which is all they care about, and mean faster better treatment for patients, which is what we care about.
Thalia, London,
This is a great pity. The NHS has exercised a near-monopoly on health provision funded by taxes rather than a market-place, which has resulted in a service which is expensive (200,000,000 Americans pay much less for far better service) and producer-orientated. It employs a lot of highly-paid people with massive pension liabilities, sucks in doctors and nurses who are needed to save lives in third world countries to extend lives in ours, and is bureaucratic. It also doesn't work all that well.
No politician would dare dismantle the NHS, but one option to change it is health tourism. If basic surgery is cheaper overseas then let patients go there. There are plenty of rich foreigners queueing up to get made better in the UK and there would be more space for them. Eventually the NHS would start to face up to either sacking workers or changing work practises to safeguard jobs. Either way, patients and taxpayers will benefit.
Dave, slough,
This is just what the NHS needs - a good kick. To hear ministers on TV saying patients must wait in this country even though capacity is available elsewhere suggests they can choose between life and death.
Disgusting.
Richard, Plymouth,