RevaHealth.com Blog

A new Eurobarometer poll has found that 4 out of 5 Irish people would consider travelling abroad for medical or dental treatment, but only 5% of people have actually done so already.

The gap between those who have and those who would exists for a number of reasons, and convenience is quoted as the main reason for staying at home. A RevaHealth.com survey earlier this year of patients who had travelled abroad for dentistry found that for 95% of them price was the main deciding factor. In this survey price didn't come out as important, but it was still important for 63% of people.

The new legislation being introduced by the European Commission is designed to make it easier for people to travel abroad for treatment, so we can expect even more of those 80% to travel as awareness grows.

[Source: Four in five willing to travel abroad for medical treatment ]

Two pieces of interest from the BBC News website today.

First up, a report by British MPs into the "New Contract" between the NHS and dentists says that the changes have not had the intended effects. In fact, in the first year 900,000 less patients were treated in the 18 months since the new contract, less peope had complex procedures such as bridges and crowns performed, and 45% less people had root canal treatment. Worryingly, the number of tooth extractions rose in thesame period. Kevin Barron MP went on to describe the overall provision of NHS dentistry as "patchy".

Following on from this, the European Commission has detailed its plan to allow EU citizens to seek treatment abroad and be reimbursed (up to a limit) by their local healthcare system. Patients would not have to seek prior approval for non-hospital care. This follows on from the case of Yvonne Watts who paid for her own hip replacement in France after being denied treatment at home, and then successfully sued the NHS for the cost of the treatment.

While the plan is not expected to cause any sudden increase in the numbers of people travelling abroad for treatment, it does aim to make the process easier, allowing patients to escape the red tape of prior approval, which will make a huge difference in the cases of people needing treatment urgently.

[Sources: NHS dentistry reforms 'failing', EU plans cross-border healthcare from BBC News]