The risks of medical tourism are hard to find

The research is one of the most extensive studies yet completed on medical tourism. It looked at the impact on the NHS of UK patients travelling abroad for dentistry, bariatric surgery, fertility services and cosmetic surgery, and highlights some of the key issues faced by the industry. It’s a 262 page report. Here are some of the key points of which the medical tourism industry needs to take note.

Lack of reliable information

The study points out that the information and advice available to potential medical tourists should highlight the lack of a clear framework for redress in many countries when complications arise from treatment abroad. The research team’s view is that “travellers should be made fully aware of current NHS eligibility and commissioning rules, and costs for which patients may be personally liable, including non-emergency care to rectify any poor outcomes of treatments received overseas.”

In their opinion, information for potential medical tourists is poorly packaged and needs to be disseminated in such a way that it gets to prospective medical tourists. They also propose that GPs require support and training to enable them to advise prospective medical tourists on the broad consequences of medical tourism and on the specific treatment to be provided overseas.

Lack of reliable data

The research criticises the lack of trustworthy data on medical tourism and highlights the problem that much of the data that does exist is delivered by stakeholders with a vested interest in boosting the industry. The oft-quoted Deloitte report comes in for criticism.

“In both Deloitte’s original 2008 publication as well as in their 2009 updated projections, the numbers cited have not been generated by any scientific method. Indeed, the source of their numbers is simply an online article for India Daily which simply states that 750,000 Americans will travel in 2007, and that by 2010 the number will reach 6 million. No evidence is offered; the figure is an estimate provided with no source of support and there is absolutely no suggestion that the figure has been reached as a consequence of any data collection.”

Medical tourism web sites

The study also looked at the information available to patients through medical tourism web sites. According to the researchers: “There remain doubts about whether or not website information facilitates treatment choice which ensures that care is ‘effective, personal and safe’. The risks of treatments are not fully detailed; unsurprisingly, there exists an imbalance of information and marketing material.”

Their conclusion?

“Even the most professional looking websites are clearly playing down the risks associated with treatment.”

Does medical tourism benefit the NHS?

The study identified the benefits to the NHS and the UK economy of medical tourism. The focus was not just on the NHS cost burden of  fixing “botched surgery abroad”. The research team estimated that medical tourism generated around £219 million pa to the UK economy in additional tourism spend, in addition to the direct spend on medical treatment in the range of £178–£325 million.

The research also examines the costs and savings resulting from UK residents travelling abroad to seek treatment.

Want to read the report in full?

“Implications for the NHS of inward and outward medical tourism: a policy and economic analysis using literature review and mixed-methods approaches” has been published in the journal, Health Services and Delivery Research Volume: 2 Issue: 2, February 2014.

Report authors: Neil Lunt, Richard D Smith, Russell Mannion, Stephen T Green, Mark Exworthy, Johanna Hanefeld, Daniel Horsfall, Laura Machin and Hannah King