The Indian government’s proposal to allow patients from the UK to travel to India for non-emergency surgery at their government’s expense is facing opposition here.
The government is clear that the NHS will not pay for health tourismLONDON: The Indian government’s proposal to allow patients from the UK to travel to India for non-emergency surgery at their government’s expense is facing opposition here.
British citizens are currently allowed to travel anywhere within Europe for treatment — a maximum of three hours’ flight time — at government expense. Travel for treatment beyond three hours time is not underwritten by the NHS.
Currently many Britons who fly to India for medical treatment do so at their own cost. They travel to India to avoid long queues for treatment on the National Health Service (NHS), and take advantage of low costs there. Indian health minister Anbumani Ramadoss proposed to the Department of Health recently that British patients could avail of cheaper and high quality treatment in India if the stipulation of three hours’ flight time were lifted.
The Department of Health has not decided on the issue, but news about the proposal has infuriated several Britons who see the NHS as a symbol of national pride, and oppose the idea of flying all the way to India for treatment at the taxpayer’s expense.
Many Britons have strongly opposed the idea in letters to various local newspapers. Some reports say that as a pilot case, patients with origins in the Indian sub-continent from the Midlands could be sent to India for treatment at government expense.
Based on the experience, the facility could be extended to others. The Department of Health, however, has discounted the possibility.
The spokesman said, “The Government is clear that the NHS will not pay for health tourism. Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health, Hugh Taylor, did meet with the Indian Health Minister and the offer to treat NHS patients in India was made. But the proposal to fly NHS patients there for treatment is not being considered.”
A survey conducted by the Treatment Abroad website shows that in 2007, over 70,000 British citizens travelled abroad for medical treatment, with India
being the destination of choice.
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