Lord Bruce of Doningtonasked Her Majesty's Government:
What plans they have for the NHS to commission treatment overseas for NHS patients. [HL2136]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathIn the light of recent rulings of the European Court of Justice, we announced that we would amend the National Health Service Act 1977 to enable the NHS to commission treatment within the European Economic Area96WA (EEA). We will make regulations shortly. We will also take this opportunity to permit NHS bodies to commission care from outside the EEA where it is in the patient's best interest to do so. We nonetheless expect that the overwhelming majority of referrals, where they occur, will be to countries of the EEA.
Regulations will also be made shortly to amend the National Health Service (Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges) Regulations 1988 to permit NHS bodies to pay for the travel of NHS patients going overseas for treatment funded by the NHS. The NHS will meet the cost of the patient's travel from the point at which they begin their international journey (the airport, ferry port or international train station) to the foreign provider. Reimbursement of travel expenses between the patient's home to the airport, ferry port or international train station will be governed by the same rules that currently apply to payment of travelling expenses to hospitals in England. This change will ensure that patients treated overseas under the auspices of the NHS will not be disadvantaged by having to travel further for that treatment.