Find out the true costs and benefits of Medical tourism for UK
Almasalla Travel News – By Ashraf El gedawy – A researcher has established medical tourism to the UK profit the economy by hundreds of millions of pounds and is a significant source of income for the NHS. The study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and York University, undermines claims this week by the health secretary Jeremy Hunt that foreigners are a major drain on the NHS.
Though, recent study suggests that the UK is in fact a net exporter of patients, with more now leaving the country for treatment than arriving here. 63,000 UK residents sought treatment abroad, while just 52,000 patients arrived here, in 2010. The study also estimates that medical tourists also add around £219 million in extra spending to the UK economy every year.Earlier this week the health secretary released a controversial report claiming that overseas patients were costing the UK up to £2 billion a year.
He also said that the government had strategy to recover up to £500 million of that from foreign patients. However, doctors heavily criticized the study and researchers who pointed out those previous studies have put the cost to the NHS at just £70 million a year. The researchers behind today’s report have called for a larger study to find out the true costs and benefits of health tourism.
