{"id":7494,"date":"2015-06-28T05:36:09","date_gmt":"2015-06-28T05:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drprem.com\/medical-tourism\/?p=7494"},"modified":"2015-07-18T07:14:17","modified_gmt":"2015-07-18T07:14:17","slug":"the-possible-reduction-of-uks-health-budget-will-fuel-medical-tourism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drprem.com\/medical-tourism\/the-possible-reduction-of-uks-health-budget-will-fuel-medical-tourism\/","title":{"rendered":"The possible reduction of UK\u2019s health budget will fuel medical tourism"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Medical tourism is now a global trend and also a continuously developing industry. No wonder patients from countries like UK have also started choosing far off countries in the hope of better healthcare and medical facilities. Recent reduction of healthcare budget of UK has boosted the trend of outbound medical tourism.<\/p>\n

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The increasing number of outbound medical tourists is a threat to the authority and importance of NHS. Tackling this problem will not going to be easy unless UK starts taking care of the medical needs of its citizens in a more efficient manner.<\/p>\n

The National Health Service of UK is under a lot of pressure<\/strong><\/p>\n

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In 1948, National Health Service was established in UK for delivering medical facilities free at the point of access to the citizens. It was run by the money raised from general taxation. Previously the citizens were dependent on NHS alone but with the broadening of horizons they are now looking for medical care offshore. Speculators believe the reduction of healthcare budgets in UK will give a positive boost to the medical tourism business spread across other European nations.<\/p>\n

According to some recent surveys conducted by Economist Intelligence Unit or EIU, richer countries are continuing to reduce their healthcare budgets and this is helping the developing countries in getting more international patients. Two of the top medical tourism destinations in Europe are France and Germany.<\/p>\n

Poland and Belgium are also catching up with their popularity. The survey also shows that more than 50,000 patients travel to other countries from UK for medical facilities annually. The number of outbound patients has risen by 170% in the last decade, which demonstrates the flaws in UK\u2019s healthcare system.<\/p>\n

Patients have started making individual decisions
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Thanks to the improvement of information technology, the modern patients are capable of finding out information about diseases, medicines and medical treatments very easily. They are non-hesitant in seeking high quality medical care abroad. They do not blindly rely on medical tourism facilitators but find out the best hospitals and team of doctors. As patients have become more cautious and adventurous at the same time, they are less dependent on local hospitals for medical facilities.<\/p>\n

Other medical tourism destinations are offering attractive packages<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Medical tourism destinations in developing countries like India, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia are offering ultra-modern medical treatments and surgeries at half the price. This is one of the biggest challenges for the medical infrastructure of developed countries like the UK. The developed nations are struggling under the pressure of ever increasing costs of healthcare facilities.<\/p>\n

As a result, they are not being able to meet the needs of citizens. Patients have to wait for a longer period of time to get the medical care they require. Unavailability of timely medical care locally and availability of high quality but low priced medical care abroad have strengthened the trend of outbound medical tourism from UK.<\/p>\n

But there are risks as well<\/strong><\/p>\n

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As the saying goes, all that glitters is not gold similarly all the opportunities available at lower prices may not be as safe or good as they seem to be. The increasing number of patients desiring to get transplants done abroad is also raising the risk of malpractices and illegal organ trafficking. All the private hospitals may not offer standardized services and fail to provide all the facilities that the package boasted. Improper post surgery care can lead to infections and death.<\/p>\n

The cost reduction policy of UK government has helped in boosting medical tourism industry across other European countries. But, traveling to faraway countries can sometimes be risky for patients.<\/p>\n

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