Should I target the UK for medical tourism?

If you’re aiming to attract medical tourists, should you be directing your efforts at UK patients seeking low cost healthcare abroad? Keith Pollard from IMTJ gives his view.

The UK faces similar problems to most developed countries. An ageing population, the rising cost of healthcare and pressure to reduce government expenditure.

But, despite what many people believe, the outbound medical tourism market from the UK has not been growing in recent years.

Here’s the data that we gather from the UK’s International Passenger Survey.

The number of outbound medical travellers peaked back in 2008, and has been in decline or static ever since.

But, we’re beginning to see a significant shift. According to the latest data from the UK’s International Patient Survey, medical tourism is making a comeback. In 2015, the latest data we have, outbound medical travel reached an all time high.

So, what’s driving this?

With an NHS that is under severe pressure and high prices for private healthcare, it’s not surprising that UK patients are showing more interest in the options overseas. What we have to do is get the message across to UK patients that medical travel is safe option.

Up until now, medical tourism has got a bad press in the UK… the newspaper stories about operations that have gone wrong abroad, the TV programmes that feature cosmetic surgery gone wrong. The challenge for overseas providers is getting the right message across to the right patients. That’s why we’re dedicating a session at the IMTJ Medical Travel Summit in Croatia to targeting the UK patient. I’ll be sharing all I know about the UK market to enable your hospital or clinic to make the most of the opportunity.