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Health treatment abroad
27/05/2010
Regulations have been laid in the Scottish Parliament which will provide certainty and transparency on patients' rights to access healthcare in other European countries.
Under the European rules, patients can seek treatment in another member state, equivalent to the treatment that would have been provided in their home country. The patient also has a right to reclaim the cost of that treatment from their home healthcare system, up to the amount it would have cost if it was provided at home.
Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon welcomed the clarification of the European rules on overseas treatment but stressed that falling waiting times in Scotland meant this was 'unlikely to be an attractive option' for many Scottish patients.
Ms Sturgeon said:
"The regulations laid in the Scottish Parliament today provide clarity to NHS health commissioners about patients' rights when seeking treatment in other European Economic Area countries and set out the procedures for obtaining prior authorisation and reclaiming the cost of that treatment.
"However with NHS waiting times currently at an all-time low I don't expect many Scottish patients to travel overseas for treatment that is, for the most part, readily available at home. Figures published earlier this week show that almost all Scots wait no more than nine weeks for inpatient and day case treatment and these figures are continuing to come down.
"The NHS in Scotland provides first class care, with quality and safety at the very heart of all that it does. Lower waiting times mean that patients are now able to access the treatment they need faster than ever before and I believe this adds up to a quality healthcare package."
Patients have the right to access healthcare in other European countries under Article 56 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
The National Health Service (Reimbursement of the cost of EEA Treatment) (Scotland) Regulations were laid in the Scottish Parliament this week and are due to come into force on August 23.
The regulations ensure that NHS Scotland, in common with the other UK administrations, is complying with EU case law and provide clarity regarding: reimbursement of cost, the circumstances in which prior authorisation is required and when prior authorisation must be granted.
Patients can access state or private healthcare in other European Economic Area countries but the Scottish health system would only be obliged to pay the amount the treatment would have cost the NHS if it was carried out in Scotland. Where the actual cost of the treatment is less than it would have cost NHS Scotland, only the actual cost is reimbursed.