Sun and surgery in Europe
On 16 May last the European Court of Justice made a ruling that will be of great interest to patients on waiting lists for surgery across the country. The Court decided that a patient should be reimbursed for the cost of the treatment abroad if his or her state failed to provide the treatment within a medically acceptable period.
The local healthcare trust in Bedford, England had classified Yvonne Watts’ hip replacement procedure as routine. This meant she would have to wait a year for surgery. She was later told by her consultant that she needed the procedure within three to four months.
She sought authorisation from the NHS to undergo the procedure in France but was refused and was again frustrated in her appeal to the English Courts. She elected to have the hip replacement in France despite the refusal and sought to recoup the £3900 cost from the NHS.
The European Court found that, while a patient should receive authorisation to obtain treatment abroad, the said authorisation should not be refused on the basis that the patient is already on an established waiting list. The only considerations that should apply in determining whether a patient should be authorised to undergo the procedure abroad are the clinical needs of the patient.
The judgement has obliged the NHS to reimburse the £3900 cost to Ms Watts as a result of their failure to treat her condition within a medically acceptable period. Who is for a bit of sun, sea and surgery this summer?
Caroline Crowley
June 2004