Four in five willing to travel abroad for medical treatment

FOUR out of five Irish people claim they would be willing to travel abroad to receive medical treatment, according to a recent EU survey.

The Eurobarometer poll reveals Irish people are among the most open of all Europeans to consider going abroad for healthcare. However, only 5% of Irish people have received medical treatment in another EU country in the past 12 months — just 1% above the EU average.

The poll, which surveyed 1,000 people in each EU country, was published yesterday after the EU Commission announced earlier this week that EU citizens will be able to receive healthcare in other EU member states without needing approval from their own health authority.

The measures, which are unlikely to become law until 2009, will allow patients to reclaim medical costs to the value of treatment under their own national health system, although they will have to pay for the treatment upfront.

The legislation is designed to give effect to rulings of the EU Court of Justice in a number of different cases in favour of the freedom of people to travel across EU borders to receive medical treatment.

However, the scheme will only provide cover for treatments which are also available in Ireland.

The commission’s Directorate General for Health and Consumer Affairs said the survey had been conducted because it was unclear how may EU citizens were aware of the possibilities of receiving healthcare abroad. It also wanted to establish the level of willingness of people to seek medical treatment outside their own country.

The poll reveals 79% of Irish people were in favour of receiving medical treatment abroad compared with the EU average of 53%.

The survey said factors which influenced a person’s willingness to travel for medical treatment were geography, education, age and cultural difference.

However, it also showed Irish people who had already travelled abroad for medical treatment would be slightly more unlikely to seek it again than those who had not yet experienced foreign healthcare.

Nevertheless, Irish people surveyed said the main reason they would seek medical treatment abroad would be the unavailability of the same care at home.

Just more than 80% said they would travel because they believed they would receive better quality healthcare than in Ireland, while 84% said they would go outside Ireland to obtain treatment from a renowned specialist.

According to the survey, 88% of Irish people said they would travel abroad because they believed they would receive treatment more quickly than at home.

The price of foreign healthcare is not as important a factor for Irish patients as just 63% said it would be a reason to seek medical treatment abroad.

Asked for reasons why they would be reluctant to seek healthcare abroad, 93% of Irish people cited convenience as a factor.

Just 78% of Irish citizens said they were satisfied with the healthcare they could receive at home, compared with the EU average of 83%. It ranks Ireland as 16th in the level of satisfaction felt by patients with their own healthcare system.

Three-quarters of those Irish patients said they did not have enough information about the availability and quality of medical treatment abroad to consider it as an alternative — the highest percentage of any EU citizens. A further 69% said they would be deterred because of language issues.

Just 44% cited affordability as a reason for their unwillingness to consider medical treatment abroad.