The NHS is sending an increasing number of patients abroad for treatment in what an expert described as a “terrible indictment” of the state of the health service. Overseas treatments in nations including Germany, Poland and Lithuania are being funded by the NHS as waiting lists in England hit record highs.
It has been reported that treatments carried out abroad have ranged from routine operations, such as hip replacements, to more complicated cancer surgery. The NHS was an important part of Labour’s manifesto, including a pledge to build a health service “fit for the future” and cut waiting times with an additional 40,000 appointments every week. The Health Secretary said NHS patients going abroad for treatment is “unacceptable.”
Wes Streeting told The Telegraph: “This Government inherited a broken NHS, with patients left waiting far too long for treatment, forcing many to go private or even seeking healthcare abroad.
“This is unacceptable and, since day one in office, we have been delivering the investment and reform needed to turn the NHS around.
“We are focused on delivering for patients, so they get the treatment they need, when they need it, closer to home. In less than a year, we’ve delivered 3.6 million more appointments, cut the waiting list by almost a quarter of a million, and diagnosed an extra 100,000 suspected cancer patients on time.
“There’s a long way to go, but we are finally putting the NHS on the road to recovery.”
He added the Government’s pending 10-year health plan will “catapult the NHS into the 21st century and get people seen on time in a modern health service on British shores”.
According to figures obtained by The Telegraph under Freedom of Information laws, the number of overseas treatments paid for by the NHS has increased by 42% in two years.
The NHS paid for 99 treatments abroad in 2022-23, rising to 112 in 2023-24 and then 141 in 2024-25.
The health service spent £4.32 million sending the 352 patients abroad for treatment, data from the NHS Business Services Authority, which handles the payments, shows.
The treatments are carried out as part of post-Brexit healthcare agreement which allows the health service to pay another European nation to treat patients where there is “undue delay” preventing them getting the equivalent treatment on the NHS within a “medically acceptable timeframe”.
The paper reports a sharp rise in NHS patients using the scheme, with those needing gynaecology surgery and hip replacements the most likely to get approval to travel overseas for treatment.
The report added that the treatment or surgery must be carried out by a state healthcare provider, and patients must fund their own travel and accommodation.
Between 2022-23 and 2024-25, Poland (72), Germany (59), Italy (32) and Belgium (31) have carried out the most procedures as part of the scheme.
Dennis Reed, from campaign group for the over 60s Silver Voices, said: “This is a terrible indictment of the state of the NHS. People have to be desperate to think about having hospital treatment in another country, hundreds of miles away.
“It is really worrying and it’s also worrying about the inequalities – most of us wouldn’t know about this scheme, and many could not afford the travel and hotels, so the vast majority of the population just have to put up with really long waits.”