A pensioner from Bedford has won a major victory for patient power after securing the backing of the European Court of Justice in her battle to get reimbursed for a hip replacement operation carried out in France.

The Luxembourg-based court ruled that patients facing an "undue delay" in obtaining treatment on the NHS should be refunded if they choose to have the operation performed elsewhere in the European Union.

But the judges left it up to the UK courts to decide whether Yvonne Watts, 74, did indeed face a medically unacceptable delay before opting to pay some £3,800 to have her hip replaced in France three years ago.

If the NHS is unable to put the genie back into the bottle, the ruling could open the floodgates for a host of similar claims against the NHS and allow patients the chance to shop around for quicker treatment elsewhere in Europe. Mrs Watts's solicitor suggested today that it might also deter hospital managers from using waiting lists as a budgetary tool.

Mrs Watts had originally been told that she faced a waiting time of one year for a hip operation. She then saw a consultant who moved her up the waiting list because of her declining health and told her that she would have a wait of three to four months.

She asked the Bedford Primary Care Trust to authorise swifter treatment but this was refused. Mrs Watts went to France anyway, receiving the necessary surgery in Abbeville one month later for £4,000.

The Department of Health had argued in court that if all NHS patients were guaranteed reimbursement of their medical costs when they opted for treatment abroad, it would seriously undermine the NHS system of administering medical priorities through waiting lists.

The DoH also argued that such a move would divert NHS resources to pay for less urgent treatment for those willing to travel abroad, and discrimination against others not willing or unable to go to another EU country for surgery.

Mrs Watts, who has avoided publicity since launching her legal campaign, would not be drawn on a comment about her landmark court victory this morning, saying only: "It is wonderful, after such a long time."

Her solicitor, Richard Stein, welcomed it as "reasonably good news" but said that Mrs Watts would still have to continue her battle to get her money back.

"The reality is that this was not ever going to be the end of it," said Mr Stein. "The Court of Appeal thought that we were right but thought it had such implications for the NHS that they should make sure by asking the European Courts of Justice.

"Whether or not Mrs Watts gets her money back is based on the determination that she faced undue delays."

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